2022 Independent Spirit Award: ‘The Lost Daughter’ is the top winner

March 6, 2022

With three awards, including Best Feature, the Netflix drama “The Lost Daughter” was the top winner at the 27th annual Film Independent Spirit Awards, which were presented in Santa Monica, California, on March 6, 2022. Husband and wife Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally hosted the show, which was televised in the U.S. on IFC and streamed exclusively on AMC+. Members of Film Independent vote for the awards, which go to movies not released by major movie studios and have production budgets of less than $22.5 million.

“The Lost Daughter” (starring Olivia Colman, Dakota Johnson and Jessie Buckley) is about a middle-aged British woman (played by Colman) who goes on a vacation in Greece and becomes haunted by memories of how she mothered her daughters when her daughters were children. The movie is based on Elena Ferrante’s 2006 novel of the same name. “The Lost Daughter” screenwriter/director Maggie Gyllenhaal won the Spirit Award for Best Director and Best Screenplay.

A24’s stripper comedy/drama “Zola” went into the ceremony with the most nominations (seven) and ended up winning two Spirit Awards: Best Female Lead (for Taylour Paige) and Best Editing (for Joi McMillon).

Here is the complete list of nominees and winners for the 2022 Film Independent Spirit Awards:

*=winner

FILM CATEGORIES

 
BEST FEATURE (Award given to the producer. Executive Producers are not awarded.)

A Chiara
Producers: Jonas Carpignano, Paolo Carpignano, Jon Coplon, Ryan Zacarias

C’mon C’mon
Producers: Chelsea Barnard, Andrea Longacre-White, Lila Yacoub

The Lost Daughter*
Producers: Charles Dorfman, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Osnat Handelsman Keren, Talia Kleinhendler

The Novice
Producers: Ryan Hawkins, Kari Hollend, Steven Sims, Zack Zucker

Zola
Producers: Kara Baker, Dave Franco, Elizabeth Haggard, David Hinojosa, Vince Jolivette, Christine Vachon, Gia Walsh
 
 
BEST FIRST FEATURE (Award given to director and producer)

7 Days*
Director: Roshan Sethi
Producers: Liz Cardenas, Mel Eslyn

Holler
Director: Nicole Riegel
Producers: Adam Cobb, Rachel Gould, Katie Mcneill, Jamie Patricof, Christy Spitzer Thornton

Queen of Glory
Director: Nana Mensah
Producers: Baff Akoto, Anya Migdal, Kelley Robins Hicks, Jamund Washington

Test Pattern
Director/Producer: Shatara Michelle Ford
Producers: Pin-Chun Liu, Yu-Hao Su

Wild Indian
Director/Producer: Lyle Mitchell Corbine, Jr.
Producers: Thomas Mahoney, Eric Tavitian
 
 
JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD – Given to the best feature made for under $500,000 (Award given to the writer, director and producer. Executive Producers are not awarded.)

Cryptozoo
Writer/Director: Dash Shaw
Producers: Tyler Davidson, Kyle Martin, Jane Samborski, Bill Way

Jockey
Writer/Director/Producer: Clint Bentley
Writer/Producer: Greg Kwedar
Producer: Nancy Schafer

Shiva Baby*
Writer/Director/Producer: Emma Seligman
Producers: Kieran Altmann, Katie Schiller, Lizzie Shapiro

Sweet Thing
Writer/Director: Alexandre Rockwell
Producers: Louis Anania, Haley Anderson, Kenan Baysal

This is Not a War Story
Writer/Director/Producer: Talia Lugacy
Producers: Noah Lang, Julian West
 
 
BEST DIRECTOR

Janicza Bravo
Zola

Maggie Gyllenhaal*
The Lost Daughter

Lauren Hadaway
The Novice

Mike Mills
C’mon C’mon

Ninja Thyberg
Pleasure
 
 
BEST SCREENPLAY

Nikole Beckwith
Together Together

Janicza Bravo, Jeremy O. Harris
Zola

Maggie Gyllenhaal*
The Lost Daughter

Mike Mills
C’mon C’mon

Todd Stephens
Swan Song
 
 
BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY

Lyle Mitchell Corbine, Jr.
Wild Indian

Matt Fifer; Story by Sheldon D. Brown
Cicada

Shatara Michelle Ford
Test Pattern

Fran Kranz
Mass

Michael Sarnoski; Story by Vanessa Block, Michael Sarnoski
Pig
 
 
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Ante Cheng, Matthew Chuang
Blue Bayou

Lol Crawley
The Humans

Tim Curtin
A Chiara

Edu Grau*
Passing*

Ari Wegner
Zola
 
 
BEST EDITING

Affonso Gonçalves
A Chiara

Ali Greer
The Nowhere Inn

Lauren Hadaway, Nathan Nugent
The Novice

Joi McMillon*
Zola

Enrico Natale
The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain
 
 
BEST FEMALE LEAD

Isabelle Fuhrman
The Novice

Brittany S. Hall
Test Pattern

Patti Harrison
Together Together

Taylour Paige*
Zola

Kali Reis
Catch the Fair One
 
 
BEST MALE LEAD

Clifton Collins Jr.
Jockey

Frankie Faison
The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain

Michael Greyeyes
Wild Indian

Udo Kier
Swan Song

Simon Rex*
Red Rocket
 
 
BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE

Jessie Buckley
The Lost Daughter

Amy Forsyth
The Novice

Ruth Negga*
Passing

Revika Reustle
Pleasure

Suzanna Son
Red Rocket
 
 
BEST SUPPORTING MALE

Colman Domingo
Zola

Meeko Gattuso
Queen of Glory

Troy Kotsur*
CODA

Will Patton
Sweet Thing

Chaske Spencer
Wild Indian
 
 
ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD – Given to one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast

Mass
Director: Fran Kranz
Casting Directors: Henry Russell Bergstein, Allison Estrin
Ensemble Cast: Kagen Albright, Reed Birney, Michelle N. Carter, Ann Dowd, Jason Isaacs, Martha Plimpton, Breeda Wool
 
 
BEST DOCUMENTARY (Award given to the director and producer)

Ascension
Director/Producer: Jessica Kingdon
Producers: Kira Simon-Kennedy, Nathan Truesdell

Flee
Director: Jonas Poher Rasmussen
Producers: Monica Hellström, Signe Byrge Sørensen

In the Same Breath
Director/Producer: Nanfu Wang
Producers: Christopher Clements, Julie Goldman, Carolyn Hepburn, Jialing Zhang

Procession
Director: Robert Greene
Producers: Susan Bedusa, Bennett Elliott, Douglas Tirola

Summer Of Soul (…Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised)*
Director: Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson
Producers: David Dinerstein, Robert Fyvolent, Joseph Patel
 
 
BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM (Award given to the director)

Compartment No. 6
Finland/Russia
Director: Juho Kuosmanen

Drive My Car*
Japan
Director: Ryusuke Hamaguchi

Parallel Mothers
Spain
Director: Pedro Almodóvar

Pebbles
India
Director: P S Vinothraj

Petite Maman
France
Director: Céline Sciamma

Prayers for the Stolen
Mexico
Director: Tatiana Huezo
 
 
PRODUCERS AWARD – The Producers Award, now in its 24th year, honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce quality independent films.

Brad Becker-Parton

Pin-Chun Liu

Lizzie Shapiro*
 
 
SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD – The Someone to Watch Award, now in its 27th year, recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition.

Alex Camilleri*
Director of Luzzu

Gillian Wallace Horvat
Director of I Blame Society

Michael Sarnoski
Director of Pig
 
 
TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD – The Truer Than Fiction Award, now in its 26th year, is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition.

Jessica Beshir*
Director of Faya Dayi

Debbie Lum
Director of Try Harder!

Angelo Madsen Minax
Director of North By Current
 

TELEVISON CATEGORIES

 
BEST NEW NON-SCRIPTED OR DOCUMENTARY SERIES (Award given to the Creator, Executive Producer, Co-Executive Producer)

Black and Missing*
Series By/Executive Producers: Soledad O’Brien, Geeta Gandbhir
Executive Producers: Jo Honig, Patrick Conway, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller, Sara Rodriguez

The Choe Show
Creator/Exec Producer: David Choe
Executive Producers: Matt Revelli, Christopher C. Chen, Hiro Murai, Nate Matteson

The Lady and The Dale
Executive Producers: Mark Duplass, Jay Duplass, Mel Eslyn, Allen Bain, Andre Gaines, Nick Cammilleri, Alana Carithers, Zackary Drucker, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller

Nuclear Family
Series By: Ry Russo-Young
Executive Producers: Liz Garbus, Julie Gaither, Jon Bardin, Leah Holzer, Peter Saraf, Alex Turtletaub, Jenny Raskin, Geralyn White Dreyfous, Lauren Haber, Maria Zuckerman, Christine Connor, Ryan Heller, Barbara Dobkin, Eric Dobkin, Andrea Van Beuren, Joe Landauer

Philly D.A.
Creators: Ted Passon, Yoni Brook, Nicole Salazar
Produced By: Josh Penn, Michael Gottwald
Executive Producers: Dawn Porter, Sally Jo Fifer, Lois Vossen, Ryan Chanatry, Gena Konstantinakos, Jeff Seelbach, Patty Quillin
Co-Executive Producers: Nion McEvoy, Leslie Berriman
 
 
BEST NEW SCRIPTED SERIES (Award given to the Creator, Executive Producer, Co-Executive Producer)

Blindspotting
Creators/Executive Producers: Rafael Casal, Daveed Diggs
Executive Producers: Jess Wu Calder, Keith Calder, Ken Lee, Tim Palen, Emily Gerson Saines, Seith Mann

It’s a Sin
Executive Producers: Russell T Davies, Peter Hoar, Nicola Shindler

Reservation Dogs*
Creators/Executive Producers: Sterlin Harjo, Taika Waititi
Executive Producer: Garrett Basch

The Underground Railroad
Creator/Executive Producer: Barry Jenkins
Executive Producers: Adele Romanski, Mark Ceryak, Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Colson Whitehead, Richard Heus, Jacqueline Hoyt

We Are Lady Parts
Creator: Nida Manzoor
Executive Producers: Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Surian Fletcher-Jones, Mark Freeland
 
 
BEST FEMALE PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES

Thuso Mbedu*
The Underground Railroad

Anjana Vasan
We Are Lady Parts

Jana Schmieding
Rutherford Falls

Jasmine Cephas Jones
Blindspotting

Deborah Ayorinde
THEM: Covenant
 
 
BEST MALE PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES

Lee Jung-jae*
Squid Game

Olly Alexander
It’s a Sin

Michael Greyeyes
Rutherford Falls

Murray Bartlett
The White Lotus

Ashley Thomas
THEM: Covenant
 
 
BEST ENSEMBLE CAST IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES

Reservation Dogs
Ensemble Cast: Devery Jacobs, D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai, Lane Factor, Paulina Alexis, Sarah Podemski, Zahn McClarnon, Lil Mike, FunnyBone