Maggie Gyllenhaal was one of the big winners at Sunday’s 2022 Film Independent Spirit Awards ceremony.
The actress’ film The Lost Daughter was awarded the show’s top prize for Best Feature for her acclaimed film The Lost Daughter, while she also earned the high-profile honors for Best Director and Best Screenplay.
Also making a splash at the ceremony was actress Taylour Paige, who scored her first Indie Spirit win for her attention-grabbing role as the title character in the stripper comedy Zola.
Big night: Maggie Gyllenhaal was one of the big winners at Sunday’s 2022 Film Independent Spirit Awards ceremony in Santa Monica with wins for Best Feature, Best Director and Best Screenplay for The Lost Daughter
The Lost Daughter — an adaptation of Elena Ferrante’s novel of the same name — stars Olivia Colman as a middle-aged professor vacationing in Greece who has flashbacks to abandoning her children after another mother (Dakota Johnson) briefly loses her daughter.
In Maggie’s Best Director speech, she quoted the late Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami: ‘I think expressing love is as important as feeling it. I don’t mean to lay down love, but I think expressing love is among its most beautiful manifestations.’
She thanked her editor Affonso Gonçalves for introducing to Kiarostami and other important world cinema films before she made The Lost Daughter.
The film, which also stars Jessie Buckley and Ed Harris, has been a hit with critics and is nominated for three Academy Awards.
Gyllenhaal ended her speech by saying she vowed her next film would be shot on 35mm film and with a schedule of at least 35 days, a luxury for small independent films.
During her Best Feature acceptance speech, Maggie mostly let her producers Osnat Handelsman-Keren and Talia Kleinhendler do the talking, and she was joined by her husband Peter Sarsgaard and her editor Affonso Gonçalves.
Learning a new language: Gyllenhaal said viewers often think of watching films from a female perspective as if they’re trying to listen to a foreign language; Olivia Colman seen in The Lost Daughter
Sweet: She was joined onstage by her husband Peter Sarsgaard (L), whom she thanked during one of her acceptance speeches
Creative team: Gyllenhaal was joined by (L–R) Affonso Gonçalves, Gyllenhaal, husband Peter Sarsgaard, Talia Kleinhendler and Osnat Handelsman-Keren
The Independent Spirit Awards were back Santa Monica, California, for the first time in two years as the ceremony returned to celebrating independent cinema.
Zola star Taylour Paige was honored with the award for Best Female Lead.
She stars in the film, which is inspired by a Twitter thread by Aziah ‘Zola’ King, as the title character, a stripper who takes a road trip from Detroit to Tampa, Florida, with another stripper, Stefani (Riley Keough), when she tells her of a club where she’s guaranteed to make a big payday.
But the trip is complicated with Zola learns that Stefani is also a prostitute who brought her meek boyfriend (Successions’ Nicholas Braun) and her pimp (Colman Domingo).
She called her costar Riley her ‘best friend’ in the emotional speech and reserved special thanks for the real-life Zola.
‘Thank you very much for everything, for every detail, for — just thank you for who you are,’ she said.
Moving: Taylour Paige was left in tears after she won the Best Female Performance award — her first — for her crime comedy Zola
Going south: The film is based on a tweet thread by the real-life Zola and details her road trip from Detroit to Tampa with fellow stripper Stefani, who turns out to also be a prostitute who brings along her meek boyfriend (Succession’s Nicholas Braun) and pimp (Colman Domingo)
Before announcing the Best Male Actor category, presenter Kristen Stewart, who joked that it was her first time being at the ceremony despite having an illustrious post-Twilight career.
‘And I’ve made so many independent movies. Now I see that you just have to make a really, really good one. I will try harder next time,’ she said to laughter from the audience.
She noted that the award ceremony was standing with the people of Ukraine amid the ongoing Russian attack across the country.
‘They’re risking their lives to fight for their very things. We stand with the hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing this war, both Ukrainians and those of other ethnicities and nationalities who are being denied safe harbor,’ she said. ‘We must never, ever take for granted the importance of courage, empathy and the power of connecting, the power of understanding each other feels really good. So let’s give it a shot.’
What gives? Before announcing the Best Male Actor category, presenter Kristen Stewart, who joked that it was her first time being at the ceremony despite having ‘made so many independent movies’
Getting political: She noted that the award ceremony was standing with the people of Ukraine amid the ongoing Russian attack across the country
The award for Best Male Actor was presented to former pornographic star Simon Rex for his career-reviving lead role in Red Rocket.
The dramedy, which is directed by The Florida Project filmmaker Sean Baker, features Rex as a former porn star who returns home to Texas City after 17 years away after he’s beaten up and left with almost no money.
He moves back in with his estranged wife and starts up a new relationship with her, only to put it on ice when he befriends a 17-year-old girl named Strawberry and tries to talk her into moving to Los Angeles with him to start her own pornographic career.
In his emotional speech, Rex thanked the writer and director Baker for believing in him.
‘Sean baker, you took a shot on me when I could not get a callback for a Geico commercial,’ he joked. ‘I couldn’t get arrested.’
He noted that he had moved out to Joshua Tree and thought his career as he knew it was over before the film opportunity.
Rex also praised his costars and all of the first-time Texan actors who worked on the film, who blew him away.
Going mainstream: The award for Best Male Actor was presented to former pornographic star Simon Rex for his career-reviving lead role in Red Rocket
On the outs: In Red Rocket, he plays a former porn star who returns home to Texas City after 17 years in the business after he has been beaten up and is nearly broke
In his emotional speech, Rex thanked the writer and director Baker for believing in him. ‘Sean baker, you took a shot on me when I could not get a callback for a Geico commercial,’ he joked. ‘I couldn’t get arrested’
Troy Kotsur kicked off the ceremony with his win for Best Supporting Male Actor for his Apple TV+ film CODA.
The move solidified his standing as an Oscars frontrunner after his win in the same category late last month at the Screen Actors Guild Awards.
Kotsur, who is deaf, stars in the inspiring film as a deaf fisherman who relies on his hearing daughter to help him, his wife and his other son — all deaf — navigate a fishing community that doesn’t respect or understand them.
Kotsur joked in his acceptance speech that his character wouldn’t fit in Santa Monica, because a fisherman from Gloucester, Massachusetts wouldn’t be able to afford a beer in the coastal Southern California city.
The next prize was the John Cassavetes Award, which honors the legendary filmmaker by selecting the best film of the year made for under $500,000.
Big win: Troy Kotsur kicked off the ceremony with his win for Best Supporting Male Actor for his Apple TV+ film CODA
Inspiring: Kotsur, who is deaf, stars in the film as a deaf fisherman who relies on his hearing daughter to help him, his wife and his other son — all deaf — navigate a fishing community that doesn’t respect or understand them; seen in CODA with Marlee Matlin (L)
Writer and director Emma Seligman’s dark comedy Shiva Baby was honored with the low-budget prize.
The film stars Rachel Sennott as a young Jewish woman who has been in a relationship with a sugar daddy while in her senior year of college.
Their relationship gets even more awkward when she meets him at a shiva observance for one of her parents’ late friends, forcing the two to act as if they’ve never met while she works through her feelings of inadequacy amid the family gathering.
‘We made this movie almost three years ago in a very hot, sweaty house,’ Seligman said at the microphone. ‘There were some amazing people in that house who made this happen.’
Sennott got teary-eyed as Seligman thanked her and called her her ‘best friend.’
Low-budget triumph: Writer and director Emma Seligman’s dark comedy Shiva Baby was honored with the John Cassavetes Award for best film made for less than $500,000
Yikes! The film stars Rachel Sennott as a young Jewish woman who has been in a relationship with a sugar daddy while in her senior year of college, which gets awkward when they meet at a shiva observance for one of her parents’ friends
The audience favorite Summer Of Soul took home the award for Best Documentary.
The film, directed by Ahmir ‘Questlove’ Thompson of The Roots fame, is a portrait of the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, which was largely overlooked among music festivals in subsequent years, despite it having an enormous crowd.
Summer Of Soul features incredible concert footage of Steve Wonder, Sly & The Family Stone, The Stapes Singers and Gladys Knight & The Pips, among other enduring acts.
‘It was so hard for people to tell stories and bring joy to the world in such a tumultuous time,’ Questlove said in his acceptance speech. ‘That’s what real artistry is. I know all of us have this thing where the world is burning outside but we’re here celebrating. For artists it’s very hard to push forward.’
Drummer turned director: The audience favorite Summer Of Soul took home the award for Best Documentary, with director Ahmir ‘Questlove’ Thompson of The Roots fame accepting
Classic: Summer Of Soul features incredible concert footage of Steve Wonder, Sly & The Family Stone, The Stapes Singers and Gladys Knight & The Pips from the overlooked 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival
Michael Sarnoski won Best First Screenplay for his director debut Pig, along with his co-story writer Vanessa Block.
‘It’s been amazing to see how after a couple of years of a lot of grief and isolation, this film is kind of about isolation and connection. It has connected with a lot of people,’ Sarnoski said.
Nicolas Cage won rave reviews for the movie, in which he stars as a hermit living in the woods with a truffle pig who was once a lauded chef in Portland, Oregon.
After his truffle pig is stolen, he ventures out into the city for the first time in years in hopes of finding his only friend left in the world.
Best First Feature went to the romantic comedy 7 Days, about a couple who have just had a hasty arranged marriage and are then forced to quarantine together at the start of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
The Truer Than Fiction Award, which goes to an emerging non-fiction director, was awarded before the broadcast to Jessica Beshir for Faya Dayi.
First time! Michael Sarnoski won Best First Screenplay for his director debut Pig, along with his co-story writer Vanessa Block. ‘It’s been amazing to see how after a couple of years of a lot of grief and isolation, this film is kind of about isolation and connection
A friend in need: Nicolas Cage stars as a hermit living in the woods with a truffle pig who was once a lauded chef in Portland. After his pig is stolen, he ventures out into the city for the first time in years in hopes of finding his only friend left in the world
Maggie Gyllenhaal solidified her expansion from acting into filmmaking with her win for Best Screenplay for The Lost Daughter, which she also directed.
The film, which stars Olivia Colman, Dakota Johnson, Jessie Buckley and Ed Harris, is based on the popular novel by the pseudonymous writer Elena Ferrante.
Gyllenhaal said viewers often think of watching films from a female perspective as if they’re trying to listen to a foreign language.
‘I see and I feel that there is a real conscious effort being made to make space for different perspectives and voices and I know that I have been the beneficiary of that. My film is in an unusual language,’ she explained.
‘It’s the language of the minds of women. I’ve been sort of afraid to say that because my film is not just for women. It’s for everyone. But as soon as I was born, I learned to speak the language of the men who were running the world around me. It was a matter of survival but it was also very interesting, like learning any language. And it meant that I could understand the roots and the subtleties of a lot of great movies,’ she continued.
‘So I’m suggesting that there can be a real pleasure in learning a language that’s not your native one like learning French or Italian and the doors that it can open for you. And also that there can be, if it doesn’t freak you out, a real pleasure in learning and seeing something new, even if it doesn’t look the way you expect it to or the way you wish it would.’
Triple threat: Maggie Gyllenhaal solidified her expansion from acting into filmmaking with her win for Best Screenplay for The Lost Daughter, which she also directed
Best Supporting Female Actor went to Ruth Negga for her performance in the black-and-white drama Passing, which is distributed by Netflix.
Negga wasn’t able to attend in person, so she made a virtual appearance via video.
‘I can’t stop smiling,’ she said calmly, adding, ‘This is a really lovely honor.’
The actress, who was away rehearsing a play, stars in the Rebecca Hall–directed adaptation of Nella Larson’s 1929 novel as a Black woman who passes as white who reunites one of her childhood friends (Tessa Thompson), who is also light-skinned enough to pass, but opts not to.
The evening’s Robert Altman Award, which is given in honor of the M*A*S*H*, Nashville and Gosford Park auteur, went to Mass, with director Fran Kranz accepting for the ensemble cast, which includes Ann Dowd, Jason Isaacs and Martha Plimpton.
The award is competitive, but only the winner is announced and the other nominees aren’t revealed.
Critical favorite: Best Supporting Female Actor went to Ruth Negga for her performance in the black-and-white drama Passing, which is distributed by Netflix. Negga wasn’t able to attend in person, so she made a virtual appearance via video
The actress stars in the Rebecca Hall–directed adaptation of Nella Larson’s 1929 novel as a Black woman who passes as white who reunites with one of her childhood friends (Tessa Thompson), who is also light-skinned enough to pass, but opts not to
Despite being named the Film Independent Spirit Awards, the ceremony also honors the best in television productions.
The Best New Scripted Series award went to Reservation Dogs, which was created by Taika Waititi and Sterlin Harjo.
The series features all Indigenous writers and directors and features a mostly Indigenous cast. The show follows four native teenagers in rural Oklahoma who switch between committing and fighting crimes as they try to put things in order so that they can move to California, which was the dream of one of their late friends.
The Best New Non-Scripted or Documentary Series award went to Black And Missing, which was executive produced by Soledad O’Brien.
TV too: The Best New Scripted Series award went to Reservation Dogs, which was created by Taika Waititi and Sterlin Harjo. The series features all Indigenous writers and directors and features a mostly Indigenous cast
True story: The Best New Non-Scripted or Documentary Series award went to Black And Missing, which was executive produced by Soledad O’Brien
Lee Jung-jae, the star of Netflix’s massively popular South Korean dystopian thriller Squid Game, was awarded with the Best Male Performance in a New Scripted series award.
He couldn’t be there in person because he was working in South Korea, so he spoke via a video screen.
Lee joked that his fans were mostly interested in when season two would be released.
The Best Female Performance in a New Scripted series award went to Thuso Mbedu, who starred in Barry Jenkins’ Amazon limited series The Underground Railroad, which was based on Colson Whitehead’s award-winning novel of the same name.
Mbedu admitted that she hadn’t bothered to prepare a speech, even though she had been urged to do so several times.
Fan favorite: Lee Jung-jae, the star of Netflix’s massively popular South Korean dystopian thriller Squid Game, was awarded with the Best Male Performance in a New Scripted series award
First time: The Best Female Performance in a New Scripted series award went to Thuso Mbedu, who starred in Barry Jenkins’ Amazon limited series The Underground Railroad, which was based on Colson Whitehead’s award-winning novel of the same name
Whoops! Mbedu admitted that she hadn’t bothered to prepare a speech, even though she had been urged to do so several times
Taika Waititi joked that he was ‘literally giving an award to myself’ when he came back on stage to present the Best Ensemble Cast in a New Scripted Series award to his series Reservation Dogs, which he co-created and helped cast.
‘There are no nominees because we already f***ing won!’ he shouted in triumph.
The Canadian actress Devery Jacobs noted Reservation Dogs was the ‘first project with all Indigenous creatives at the helm.
She dedicated the cast award to ‘those who came before us,’ who were forced to work in Hollywood ‘playing antagonists in western movies and mythic, stoic and savage Indians.’
Winner: Taika Waititi joked that he was ‘literally giving an award to myself’ when he came back on stage to present the Best Ensemble Cast in a New Scripted Series award to his series Reservation Dogs, which he co-created and helped cast
Speaking out: The Canadian actress Devery Jacobs noted Reservation Dogs was the ‘first project with all Indigenous creatives at the helm. She dedicated the cast award to ‘those who came before us’
In the ramp up to the Best Feature prize, the Independent Spirit awards foreshadowed what will likely happen at the Academy Awards by broadcasting previously taped acceptance speeches for some of the categories deemed of lower interest by the organization.
The move to relegate some of the awards to before the broadcast, and to only show edited excerpts of those speeches, irked several viewers.
IndieWire chief film critic David Ehrlich noted on Twitter that the decision to cut down the categories didn’t make much sense, the show’s broadcaster IFC was ‘literally following the Indie Spirit Awards with five hours of Everybody Loves Raymond.’