Were you one of the very few who watched yesterday?
Judging by the trade coverage, you’d expect millions to have tuned into yesterday afternoon’s YouTube stream of the Independent Spirit Awards. That was not the case, far from it. Outside the awards-following film community, nobody bothered to catch them.
The final numbers are in and only 46,000 people watched the 39th Indie Spirits. I really like how this awards show celebrates indie cinema, but it is by no means one of relevance or importance. It doesn’t help that awards shows are losing popularity amongst the general public — although the Oscars will likely get a bump in ratings this year due to “Barbenheimer.”
In case you’re wondering, “Past Lives” won Best Feature. Jeffrey Wright (“American Fiction”) and Da’Vine Joy Randolph (“The Holdovers”) won Best Lead and Supporting performances, respectively. The awards were gender free which meant there was only one award in each category — I still don’t get how this benefits anyone other than just to virtue signal.
Other than that, you didn’t miss much. Apparently, Zoe Lister Jones came out, she now likes women (“I’m here and I’m queer”). Nick Offerman condemned the “homophobic” reaction to “The Last of Us.” Host Aidy Bryant (who?) warned the audience about AI. Oh, and the ceremony was momentarily disrupted by pro-Palestine protestors.
Regardless, the dwindling relevance of the Spirit Awards, which were taken off the air last year due to abysmal ratings, is just a symptom of the times. American indie filmmaking is not currently in peak shape, and that’s putting it mildly.