# 36th Independent Spirit Awards

The 36th Film Independent Spirit Awards, honoring the best independent films and television series of 2020, were presented by Film Independent on April 22, 2021. Though it was initially intended for the ceremony to air on April 24, 2021, it was later changed to April 22, 2021. The nominations were announced on January 26, 2021 by Laverne Cox, Barry Jenkins, and Olivia Wilde. The ceremony was televised in the United States on IFC and streamed exclusively by AMC+. Melissa Villaseñor hosted the ceremony.

## Expansion

This year, the Film Independent expanded categories in order to honor television series for the first time, debuting five new categories: Best New Scripted Series, Best New Non-Scripted or Documentary Series, Best Male Performance in a New Scripted Series, Best Female Performance in a New Scripted Series, and Best Ensemble Cast in a New Scripted Series.

## Winners and nominees
### Film

| Best Feature | Best Director |
| Nomadland First Cow Ma Rainey's Black Bottom Minari Never Rarely Sometimes Always | Chloé Zhao – Nomadland Lee Isaac Chung – Minari Emerald Fennell – Promising Young Woman Eliza Hittman – Never Rarely Sometimes Always Kelly Reichardt – First Cow |
| Best Male Lead | Best Female Lead |
| Riz Ahmed – Sound of Metal as Ruben Stone Chadwick Boseman – Ma Rainey's Black Bottom as Levee Green (posthumous) Adarsh Gourav – The White Tiger as Balram Halwai Rob Morgan – Bull as Abe Steven Yeun – Minari as Jacob Yi | Carey Mulligan – Promising Young Woman as Cassandra "Cassie" Thomas Nicole Beharie – Miss Juneteenth as Turquoise Jones Viola Davis – Ma Rainey's Black Bottom as Ma Rainey Sidney Flanigan – Never Rarely Sometimes Always as Autumn Callahan Julia Garner – The Assistant as Jane Frances McDormand – Nomadland as Fern |
| Best Supporting Male | Best Supporting Female |
| Paul Raci – Sound of Metal as Joe Colman Domingo – Ma Rainey's Black Bottom as Cutler Orion Lee – First Cow as King-Lu Glynn Turman – Ma Rainey's Black Bottom as Toledo Benedict Wong – Nine Days as Kyo | Youn Yuh-jung – Minari as Soon-ja Alexis Chikaeze – Miss Juneteenth as Kai Jones Yeri Han – Minari as Monica Yi Valerie Mahaffey – French Exit as Madame Reynaud Talia Ryder – Never Rarely Sometimes Always as Skylar |
| Best Screenplay | Best First Screenplay |
| Emerald Fennell – Promising Young Woman Lee Isaac Chung – Minari Eliza Hittman – Never Rarely Sometimes Always Mike Makowsky – Bad Education Alice Wu – The Half of It | Andy Siara – Palm Springs Kitty Green – The Assistant Noah Hutton – Lapsis Channing Godfrey Peoples – Miss Juneteenth James Sweeney – Straight Up |
| Best First Feature | Best Documentary Feature |
| Darius Marder – Sound of Metal Radha Blank – The Forty-Year-Old Version Heidi Ewing – I Carry You with Me Edson Oda – Nine Days Channing Godfrey Peoples – Miss Juneteenth | Crip Camp Collective Dick Johnson Is Dead The Mole Agent Time |
| Best Cinematography | Best Editing |
| Joshua James Richards – Nomadland Jay Keitel – She Dies Tomorrow Shabier Kirchner – Bull Michael Latham – The Assistant Hélène Louvart – Never Rarely Sometimes Always | Chloé Zhao – Nomadland Andy Canny – The Invisible Man Scott Cummings – Never Rarely Sometimes Always Merawi Gerima – Residue Enat Sidi – I Carry You with Me |
| Best International Film ||
| Quo Vadis, Aida? ( Bosnia and Herzegovina) Bacurau ( Brazil) The Disciple ( India) Night of the Kings ( Ivory Coast) Preparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of Time ( Hungary) ||

### Films with multiple nominations and awards

Films that received multiple nominations :
| Nominations | Film |
| 7 | Never Rarely Sometimes Always |
| 6 | Minari |
| 5 | Ma Rainey's Black Bottom |
| 5 | Nomadland |
| 4 | Miss Juneteenth |
| 3 | The Assistant |
| 3 | Bull |
| 3 | First Cow |
| 3 | Promising Young Woman |
| 3 | Sound of Metal |
| 2 | I Carry You with Me |
| 2 | Nine Days |
| 2 | Residue |
Films that won multiple awards :
| Awards | Film |
| 4 | Nomadland |
| 3 | Sound of Metal |
| 2 | Promising Young Woman |

### Television

| Best New Scripted Series | Best New Non-Scripted or Documentary Series |
| I May Destroy You (BBC One / HBO) Little America (Apple TV+) Small Axe (Prime Video) A Teacher (FX on Hulu) Unorthodox (Netflix) | Immigration Nation (Netflix) Atlanta's Missing and Murdered: The Lost Children (HBO) City So Real (National Geographic) Love Fraud (Showtime) We're Here (HBO) |
| Best Male Performance in a New Scripted Series | Best Female Performance in a New Scripted Series |
| Amit Rahav – Unorthodox as Yakov "Yanky" Shapiro (Netflix) Adam Ali – Little America as Zain (Apple TV+) Nicco Annan – P-Valley as Uncle Clifford (Starz) Conphidance – Little America as Iwegbuna (Apple TV+) Harold Torres – ZeroZeroZero as Manuel Contreras (Prime Video) | Shira Haas – Unorthodox as Esther "Esty" Shapiro (Netflix) Elle Fanning – The Great as Catherine the Great (Hulu) Abby McEnany – Work in Progress as Abby (Showtime) Maitreyi Ramakrishnan – Never Have I Ever as Devi Vishwakumar (Netflix) Jordan Kristine Seamón – We Are Who We Are as Caitlin Poythress / Harper (HBO) |
| Best Ensemble Cast in a New Scripted Series ||
| I May Destroy You – Michaela Coel, Paapa Essiedu, Weruche Opia, and Stephen Wight ||

### Series with multiple nominations and awards

Series that received multiple nominations :
| Nominations | Series |
| 3 | Little America |
| 3 | Unorthodox |
| 2 | I May Destroy You |
Series that won multiple awards :
| Awards | Series |
| 2 | I May Destroy You |
| 2 | Unorthodox |

## Special awards
### John Cassavetes Award

(The award is given to the best feature made for under $500,000; recipients are the writer, director, and producer)
Residue
* The Killing of Two Lovers
* La Leyenda Negra
* Lingua Franca
* Saint Frances

### Robert Altman Award

(The award is given to its film director, casting director, and ensemble cast)
* One Night in Miami... – Regina King, Kimberly R. Hardin, Kingsley Ben-Adir, Eli Goree, Aldis Hodge, and Leslie Odom Jr.

## Emerging Filmmakers Awards
### Producers Award

The award honors emerging producers, who despite highly limited resources demonstrate the creativity, tenacity, and vision required to create quality independent films. The winner receives a $25,000 unrestricted cash grant courtesy of Spirit Award Premier Sponsors Genesis Motor North America.
* Gerry Kim
** Kara Durrett
** Lucas Joaquin

### Someone to Watch Award

The award honors a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition. The winner receives a $25,000 unrestricted cash grant courtesy of Spirit Award Premier Sponsors Genesis Motor North America.
* Ekwa Msangi – Farewell Amor
** David Midell – The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain
** Annie Silverstein – Bull

### Truer than Fiction Award

The award honors to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received appropriate recognition. The winner receives a $25,000 unrestricted cash grant courtesy of Spirit Award Premier Sponsors Genesis Motor North America.
* Elegance Bratton – Pier Kids
** Cecilia Aldarondo – Landfall
** Elizabeth Lo – Stray