38th Annual American Spirit Awards

Michelle Yeoh - Film Independent Spirit Awards

Film Independent hosted the 38th Film Independent Spirit Awards on March 4, 2023, at the Santa Monica Pier, celebrating the greatest independent films and television shows of 2022. Like last year, the ceremony replaces its previous long-standing slot on the day before the Academy Awards. The 38th Film Independent Awards were broadcast live on the Film Independent YouTube channel and IMDb's YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts.

A24's Everything Everywhere All at Once was named Best Feature at the 38th Annual American Spirit Awards, one of seven wins for the sci-fi film that confirmed its frontrunner status in one of the final stops before the Academy Awards on March 12, 2023. Everything, which had the most nominations heading into the daytime presentation, also saw wins for Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, and Stephanie Hsu in the awards' inaugural gender-neutral performance categories in film and television. The film also received awards for The Daniels' directing and script, as well as Paul Rogers' editing.

Gender-neutral categories were added to the nineteen film and television categories this year. The organization combined the previously separate male and female lead and supporting categories for cinema and television into two new categories, Best Lead Performance and Best Supporting Performance, each with ten nominees. The same was done for the television categories, which now include Best Lead Performance in a New Scripted Series as well as the newly added Best Supporting Performance in a New Scripted Series award. During this awards season, women won four of the five gender-neutral categories. A retired film category, Best Breakthrough Performance, was also reinstated but is now limited to only five nominees.

The ceremony was hosted by Indian American comedian Hasan Minhaj. Minhaj began his opening monologue by joking about how much less he is paid than Jerrod Carmichael at the Golden Awards. He went on to joke that instead of airing the Spirit Awards ceremony, as it does every year, IFC chose to air Semi-Pro, a film that, as Minhaj repeatedly emphasized, lost money at the box office and has a 22 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The comedian then turned his attention to Hollywood's A-listers, who had gathered in Santa Monica for the afternoon awards event. He later gave a shout-out to the film nominees, including Everything Everywhere All at Once, Bones and All, and Tár.

After addressing film nominees, Minhaj switched his focus to the television nominees, singling out Abbott Elementary‘s Quinta Brunson, who was watching Semi-Pro on IFC, and Mo Amer, who was checking out Minhaj’s “star meter” on IMDb. Toward the end of his opening monologue, the comedian said that awards shows are dead. Minhaj references how his 2-year-old watched slime videos with more views than the Oscars, and said, “You’re truly in it for the love of the game.” Minhaj continued by claiming that the entire industry stands on the shoulders of independent film because that’s how it came to be.

Following that, Minhaj focused on the television nominees, citing Abbott Elementary's Quinta Brunson, who was watching Semi-Pro on IFC, and Mo Amer, who was researching Minhaj's "star meter" on IMDb. Near the end of his opening speech, the comic said that award shows are dead, referring to how his 2-year-old watched slime videos that received more views than the Oscars. To the guests who attended, Minhaj said, “You’re truly in it for the love of the game.” Minhaj went on to remark that the entire industry is founded on the backs of indie films because that is how it all started.

Special Note: The POC winners are mentioned below.

Best Feature: Everything Everywhere All at Once

Best Director: Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert, Everything Everywhere All at Once

Best Screenplay: Daniel Kwan & Daniel Scheinert, Everything Everywhere All At Once

Best Lead Performance: Michelle Yeoh, Everything Everywhere All at Once

Best Supporting Performance (Film): Ke Huy Quan, Everything Everywhere All at Once

Best Breakthrough Performance: Stephanie Hsu, Everything Everywhere All At Once

Best International Film: Joyland, Pakistan/USA - Director: Saim Sadiq

Someone To Watch Award: Nikyatu Jusu, Nanny

Best New Scripted Series: The Bear, Creator/Executive Producer: Christopher Storer - Executive Producers: Joanna Calo, Josh Senior, Hiro Murai - Co-Executive Producer: Rene Gube

Best Lead Performance in a New Scripted Series: Quinta Brunson, Abbott Elementary

Best Supporting Performance In a New Scripted Series: Ayo Edebiri, The Bear

Best Ensemble Cast in a New Scripted Series: Pachinko - Ensemble Cast: Soji Arai, Jin Ha, Inji Jeong, Minha Kim, Kaho Minami, Lee Minho, Steve Sanghyun Noh, Anna Sawai, Jimmi Simpson, Yuh-jung Youn