The 2019 Independent Spirit Awards Winners

Chloë Grace Moretz, Dakota Johnson and Mia Goth during the 2019 Film Independent Spirit Awards on February 23

The Independent Spirit Awards, held in an oceanfront tent in Santa Monica, are always the antithesis to typical Hollywood glamour as its renowned for its low-key, beachy vibe, which might be why winner Glenn Close felt comfortable enough to bring her dog to the festivities!

Photo Credit: John Shearer/Getty Images

Close’s pooch was definitely the star of the show, though other big winners at the Film Independent event handed out included If Beale Street Could Talk, Can You Ever Forgive Me?, Suspiria, Eighth Grade, First Reformed, Sorry To Bother You, The Wife and You Were Never Really Here. En El Séptimo Día, Won’t You Be My Neighbor and Roma.

Photo Credit: Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images

In addition to being the celebration that honors artist-driven films made with an economy of means by filmmakers whose films embody diversity, innovation and uniqueness of vision, the Spirit Awards is the primary fundraiser for Film Independent’s year-round programs.

Photo Credit: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images This year’s major winners were If Beale Street Could Talk, which won Best Feature, Best Director and Best Supporting Female; Can You Ever Forgive Me? which won Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Male; Suspiria which won the Robert Altman Award and Best Cinematography; En El Séptimo Día which won the John Cassavettes Award; Eighth Grade, which won Best First Screenplay; First Reformed which won Best Male Lead; Sorry to Bother You which won Best First Feature; The Wife which won Best Female Lead; You Were Never Really Here which won Best Editing; Won’t You Be My Neighbor which won Best Documentary; and Roma which won Best International Film.

Photo Credit: John Shearer/Getty Images

The 12th annual Robert Altman Award was given to one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast. Suspiria director Luca Guadagnino received this award, along with casting directors Avy Kaufman and Stella Savino as well as cast members Malgosia Bela, Ingrid Caven, Lutz Ebersdorf, Elena Fouina, Mia Goth, Jessica Harper, Dakota Johnson, Gala Moody, Chloë Grace Moretz, Fabrizia Sacchi, Renée Soutendijk, Tilda Swinton, Sylvie Testud and Angela Winkler.

Photo Credit: Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for FIJI Water

The Fellowship includes an unrestricted cash grant of $10,000 and was awarded to Additionally, screenwriter Stephanie Adams-Santos was the recipient of the 2019 Roger and Chaz Ebert Foundation Fellowship, an annual honor that goes to an outstanding filmmaker and participant in Project Involve. Now in its 26^th year, Project Involve has proudly fostered the careers of artists from underrepresented backgrounds, empowering them to create stories for film and television that are reflective of our community

Photo Credit: Stefanie Keenan/Getty Images for FIJI Water

See the full list of winners below

Best Feature
EIGHTH GRADE
FIRST REFORMED
IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK (WINNER)
LEAVE NO TRACE
YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE

Best Director
Debra Granik, LEAVE NO TRACE
Barry Jenkins, IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK (WINNER)
Tamara Jenkins, PRIVATE LIFE
Lynne Ramsay, YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE
Paul Schrader, FIRST REFORMED

Best First Feature
HEREDITARY
SORRY TO BOTHER YOU (WINNER)
THE TALE
WE THE ANIMALS
WILDLIFE

Best Male Lead
John Cho, SEARCHING
Daveed Diggs, BLINDSPOTTING
Ethan Hawke, FIRST REFORMED (WINNER)
Christian Malheiros, SÓCRATES
Joaquin Phoenix, YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE

Best Female Lead
Glenn Close, THE WIFE (WINNER)
Toni Collette, HEREDITARY
Elsie Fisher, EIGHTH GRADE
Regina Hall, SUPPORT THE GIRLS
Helena Howard, MADELINE’S MADELINE
Carey Mulligan, WILDLIFE

Best Supporting Female Actor
Kayli Carter, PRIVATE LIFE
Tyne Daly, A BREAD FACTORY
Regina King, IF BEALE STREET COULD TALK (WINNER)
Thomasin Harcourt McKenzie, LEAVE NO TRACE
J. Smith-Cameron, NANCY

Best Supporting Male Actor
Raúl Castillo, WE THE ANIMALS
Adam Driver, BLACKKKLANSMAN
Richard E. Grant, CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME? (WINNER)
Josh Hamilton, EIGHTH GRADE
John David Washington, MONSTERS AND MEN

Best Cinematography
Ashley Connor, MADELINE’S MADELINE
Diego Garcia, WILDLIFE
Benjamin Loeb, MANDY
Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, SUSPIRIA (WINNER)
Zak Mulligan, WE THE ANIMALS

Best Screenplay
(Writer/Story By)
Rebecca Lenkiewicz & Wash Westmoreland, COLETTE
Nicole Holofcener & Jeff Whitty, CAN YOU EVER FORGIVE ME? (WINNER)
Tamara Jenkins, PRIVATE LIFE
Boots Riley, SORRY TO BOTHER YOU
Paul Schrader FIRST REFORMED

Best First Screenplay
Bo Burnham, EIGHTH GRADE (WINNER)
Christina Choe, NANCY
Cory Finley, THOROUGHBREDS
Jennifer Fox, THE TALE
Quinn Shephard (Writer/Story By) and Laurie Shephard (Story By), BLAME

Best Editing
Joe Bini, YOU WERE NEVER REALLY HERE (WINNER)
Keiko Deguchi, Brian A. Kates & Jeremiah Zagar, WE THE ANIMALS
Luke Dunkley, Nick Fenton, Chris Gill & Julian Hart, AMERICAN ANIMALS
Anne Fabini, Alex Hall and Gary Levy, THE TALE
Nick Houy, MID90S

Best Documentary
HALE COUNTY THIS MORNING, THIS EVENING
MINDING THE GAP
OF FATHERS AND SONS
ON HER SHOULDERS
SHIRKERS
WON’T YOU BE MY NEIGHBOR? (WINNER)

Best International Film
BURNING (South Korea)
THE FAVOURITE (United Kingdom)
HAPPY AS LAZZARO (Italy)
ROMA (Mexico) (WINNER)
SHOPLIFTERS (Japan)