Independent Spirit Awards Honor All of Us Strangers, Monica & More LGBTQ+ Films

The Film Independent Spirit Awards is one of the best major movie awards when it comes to recognizing and celebrating LGBTQ+ talent and films, and 2023 is no different.

This year’s Independent Spirit Award nominees were just announced, and queer films are everywhere to be found, including several queer actors and directors leading in major categories.

One of the most exciting nominations comes in the Best Lead Performance category where Trace Lysette is nominated for playing the title role in Monica. Lysette is getting strong Oscar buzz for the role, in which she plays a trans woman reconnecting with her family when her mother gets sick.

Lysette becomes the fifth trans actor to be nominated for an Independent Spirit Award. Previously Mya Taylor and Kitana Kiki Rodriguez from Tangerine, Patti Harrison from Together Together, and Harmony Santana from Gun Hill Road were nominated, however, none of them won.

The queer film with the most nominations is Ira Sachs’ Passages, which scored nominations in the Best Feature and Best Director categories, as well as nominations for both Franz Rogowski for Best Lead and Ben Wishaw for Best Supporting Performance.

Two other queer films got three nominations. All of Us Strangers, a haunting gay romance, got three nominations: Best Feature, Best Director for Andrew Haigh, and Best Lead Performance for Andrew Scott. Theater Camp, the musical mockumentary also scored three noms: Best Supporting Performance for Noah Galvin, Best First Screenplay, and Best Editing.

Other queer projects and people that were nominated include director Todd Haynes for his film May December, Bottoms for its screenplay by Rachel Sennot and Emma Seligman, and Kokomo City for Best Documentary. The film Eileen was also nominated for Best Director and got two nominations for Best Supporting Performance.

The Independent Spirit Awards also celebrate excellence in TV, where queer actors Emma Corrin, Bella Ramsey, Murray Bartlett, and Billie Eilish were nominated for their performances in A Murder at the End of the World, The Last of Us, and Swarm.

Winners of the 39th Spirit Awards will be announced Sunday, February 25, 2024. Saturday Night Live alum Aidy Bryant will host, with a live stream on IMDb and Film Independent’s YouTube channels beginning at 5pm ET.