The Spirit Awards had taken a populist turn in recent years, but they’ve snapped back to their obscure references, giving Zola its most citations, recognizing Oscar contenders The Lost Daughter and C’mon C’mon in minor ways, but ultimately saying they won’t be beholden to popular titles. As such, the likes of Olivia Colman and Joaquin Phoenix were completely ignored while CODA was resigned to a single nomination for supporting actor Troy Kotsur. Don’t look for any Oscar barometric readings from this group this year.

Nominations Tallies

(7) Zola
(5) The Novice
(4) The Lost Daughter, Wild Indian
(3) A Chiara, C’mon C’mon, Test Pattern

The Nominations

Best Feature

A Chiara
C’mon C’mon
The Lost Daughter
The Novice
Zola

Best Director

Janicza Bravo – Zola
Maggie Gyllenhaal – The Lost Daughter
Lauren Hadaway – The Novice
Mike Mills – C’mon C’mon
Ninja Thyberg – Pleasure

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 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 Supporting Male

Colman Domingo – Zola
Meeko Gattuso – Queen of Glory
Troy Kotsur – CODA
Will Patton – Sweet Thing
Chaske Spencer – Wild Indian

Best Supporting Female

Jessie Buckley – The Lost Daughter
Amy Forsyth – The Novice
Ruth Negga – Passing
Revika Reustle – Pleasure
Suzanna Son – Red Rocket

Best Screenplay

C’mon C’mon
The Lost Daughter
Swan Song
Together Together
Zola

Best Editing

A Chiara
The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain
The Novice
The Nowhere Inn
Zola

Best Cinematography

A Chiara
Blue Bayou
The Humans
Passing
Zola

Best Documentary

Ascension
Flee
In The Same Breath
Procession
Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)

John Cassavetes Award

Cryptozoo
Jockey
Shiva Baby
Sweet Thing
This Is Not a War Story

Best International Film

Compartment No. 6
Drive My Car
Parallel Mothers
Pebbles
Petite Maman
Prayers for the Stolen

Truer Than Fiction Award

Jessica Beshir
Debbie Lum
Angela Madsen Minax

Best First Feature

Holler
Queen of Glory
7 Days
Test Pattern
Wild Indian

Robert Altman Award

Mass

Best First Screenplay

Cicada
Mass
Pig
Test Pattern
Wild Indian

Producers Award

Brad Becker-Parton
Pin-Chun Liu
Lizzie Shapiro

Someone to Watch Award

Alex Camilleri
Michael Sarnoski
Gillian Wallace Horvat

Spirit Awards Data

First Awards: 1985 (37)