Independent Spirit Awards have been announced!
We also like to celebrate the independent spirit, therefore the Independent Spirit Awards ceremony is always an occasion for us to rejoice. Especially this year because numerous films shown at the last edition of American Film Festival received the awards.
Closest to our hearts are those for Sarah Winshall, the producer of I Saw the TV Glow and Good One, and Sarah Friedland for Familiar Touch – the latter as a filmmaker to keep an eye on (and we'll take this opportunity to remind you that Familiar Touch was with us not only at AFF, but even earlier, as part of US in Progress).
The biggest number of awards was claimed by Sean Baker and his Anora (Best Feature, Best Director, Best Lead Performance in a Film), but Jesse Eisenberg can also be pleased as A Real Pain collected two (Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Performance in a Film). We were also very happy to see awards for a great coming of age film Didi (Best First Screenplay and Best First Feature) and the AFF audience favorite, My Old Ass (Best Breakthrough Performance in a Film for Maisy Stella).
Other nominees included Sing Sing, The Brutalist, Nightbitch, Ghostlight, Between the Temples, In the Summers and Jazzy – all of which premiered at the American Film Festival in November.
Another reason for celebration is the Breakouts Feature Grand Jury Prize, which was awarded in Los Angeles as part of the Slamdance Film Festival to Agnieszka Zwiefka for her film Silent Trees, which was presented at the last edition of the New Horizons IFF. Slamdance FF also included the screening of Know Me, directed by Edson Jean with music by Maciek Zielinski – Edson and Maciek met during US in Progress in 2023. Lockjaw by Sabrina Greco, a participant in the last edition of USiP, also qualified for the festival’s program. We are very proud!
