Troy Kotsur kicked off the 2022 Film Independent Spirit Awards on Sunday 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.
Big win: Troy Kotsur kicked off the 2022 Film Independent Spirit Awards on Sunday with his win for Best Supporting Male Actor for his Apple TV+ film CODA
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 Independent Spirit Awards were back Santa Monica, California, for the first time in two years as the ceremony returned to celebrating independent cinema.
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.
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
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
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 independent 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