Spirit Awards 2022: My Personal Ballot

by Cláudio Alves

The Film Independent Spirit Awards are upon us! After a few years of hewing concerningly close to the Oscars, this year's slot of nominees feels more connected to the organization's purpose of celebrating independent cinema, even the obscure stuff. Indeed, exploring the many nominated pictures was one of the highlights of this awards season. I discovered some beautiful gems and have new artists to look for in the incoming years. Isn't that the most beautiful part of movie awards – the uncovering of heretofore unknown talents and voices? It seems right, seeing as the Spirit Awards are voted on by cinephiles, all those who become Film Independent members out of their love for the seventh art.

With that in mind, I thought it could be fun to share my (not so anonymous) ballot for the Spirit Awards, perchance some predictions too…

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I'll Link to That

• Vulture "Do they really have enough champagne in Death on the Nile to fill the Nile?" funny must-read!
• IndieWire Hilarious marrieds Megan Mullaly & Nick Offerman will be hosting Spirit Awards
• MNPP a preview of NYC's annual "Rendezvous with French Cinema"
• Forbes Highest Paid Entertainers - annual list topped by Peter Jackson who sold part of his vfx firm WETA. He's now the third director to become a billionaire (after Spielberg and George Lucas)

Rumors about Blonde, Lady Gaga's congratulations, Flee's record-breaking Oscar triple, Dolly Parton's generosity, and more after the jump...

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12 takeaways from this morning's Oscar nominations

In no particular order - see the full list of nominations here.

1. BEST ACTRESS IS, TWO YEARS RUNNING NOW, A CHAOTIC NAIL-BITER
Last season provided us a rare nail-biter as different women kept winning lead actress at the televised shows: Andra Day, Viola Davis, Frances McDormand, Carey Mulligan. This year the nominations themselves have been routinely surprising. In fact the only woman to hit *every* key precursor was Lady Gaga but when the nominations were announced this morning she was the most shocking snub. Meanwhile, Penelope Cruz who'd only won the Volpi Cup and Kristen Stewart, who had struggled in the precursors despite year long "she's going to win!" hoopla both showed up. So we currently have NO idea who is going to win. You can make a case for any of the nominees. And, once again, none of them are in Best Picture nominated films.

2. QUALIFYING RELEASES ARE ALIVE AND WELL (SIGH)
Norway's incredible film The Worst Person in the World scored a surprise nomination in Best Original Screenplay (well deserved) despite only playing for a week unadvertised in theaters to qualify...

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Oscar Volley: Best International Film is a pundit's nightmare

With less than a week until nominations, Cláudio Alves and Elisa Giudici discuss Best International Feature…

Italy's THE HAND OF GOD

Cláudio Alves: Before we delve into the finalists for Oscar's Best International Feature Film competition, I must comment on the fact that we each come from a record-holding country in this category's history, albeit opposite ends of the success spectrum. As far as victories, Italy (your home) is the all-time champion, having won this prize 14 times. On the other hand, Portugal (mine) is still waiting for its first nomination, being the unnominated country with the most submissions. In fact, we've never even gotten as far as the shortlist stage (cries inconsolably)!

Anyway, since we're on the topic of our countries, I'm interested in knowing whether you think it's safe to predict Paolo Sorrentino's return to the Academy's favour with The Hand of God. I can't say I'm entirely convinced about the picture's merits...

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Oscar Volley: Is Best Animated Feature already wrapped up?

Continuing our Oscar Volley series at The Film Experience. Abe Friedtanzer and Timothy Lyons on Best Animated Feature

My Sunny Maad, Belle, and Poupelle are all hoping to interrupt the Disney party in Best Animated Feature

ABE FRIEDTANZER: Most years after the Oscar nominations come out I have to play catch up on everything I've missed. That's not the case in a second consecutive season where the Oscars are later in the calendar. I have caught most of the contenders here. The mainstream American studio options are actually all great but of course I'd love to see some international choices make the cut. Belle seems like a decent bet to crack the list, and while it's a terrific film, I want to champion another Japanese movie, Poupelle of Chimney Town. I do worry that it's too under-the-radar to get enough votes, but it was the most visually striking animation I saw all year. I was also impressed by My Sunny Maad, which, like the much buzzier Flee, is about Afghanistan but is a very different experience. Maad has only been noticed by the Golden Globes, so I'm not sure what kind of buzz it has. What have you seen that you'd love to see nominated...

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