THE Film Independent Spirit Awards are keeping the essence of indie cinema alive throughout the most chaotic awards calendars in history.

Laverne Cox, “Moonlight” filmmaker Barry Jenkins, and actress-director Olivia Wildeannounced this year’s nominees in a virtual livestream presentation, continuing the momentum for key contenders in the race amid a crowded week for Oscar precursors.

Though films with major stars picked up signifiant attention at the Indie Spirits, Eliza Hittman’s “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” picked up the most overall nods with seven total, including Best Feature, Best Director, and Best Leading Female for breakout actress Sidney Flanigan’s performance. Lee Isaac Chung’s “Minari” is next with six nominations (including Best Director and Best Leading Male for Steven Yeun), followed by major Oscar contenders “Nomadland” and “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” with five each, and Channing Godfrey Peoples’ “Miss Juneteenth” with four.

Among this year’s nominees, 57 percent of the above-the-line contenders are women, and 48 percent are people of color.

In the months ahead, for the first time in the awards show’s 36-year history, the 2021 Indie Spirits broadcast will take place in primetime, having exited its traditionally held date of the Saturday before the Oscars.

Across the last four decades, the Indie Spirits have honored achievements in movies made for roughly US$20 million, though standards have fluctuated in recent years. The awards are voted on by members of Film Independent, a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the profile of independent cinema and diversity in the industry.

While Film Independent’s taste often aligns with the Academy’s, its voting base is made up of anyone who chooses to pay to join, regardless of standing in or proximity to the filmmaking industry. It’s not uncommon for the Indie Spirits’ Best Feature winner to cross over into Oscar territory, like 2017’s “Moonlight,” 2016’s “Spotlight,” 2015’s “Birdman,” and 2014’s “12 Years A Slave,” but it’s not out of the question for a Best Feature prize holder to completely miss out on a Best Picture nomination, as Lulu Wang’s “The Farewell” did last year. On the acting side, only Renée Zellweger won both the Indie Spirit and the Oscar, and competed at the Indie Spirits as the only acting contender with a corresponding nomination from the Academy.

This year, several high-profile contenders were not eligible for Indie Spirit nominations, including many Netflix titles such as likely multicategory Oscar contenders “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” “Da 5 Bloods,” and “Mank,” while Glenn Close’s supporting performance in “Hillbilly Elegy” is also ineligible, as is Sophia Loren’s work in “The Life Ahead,” as that title is competing as an international work.                         (SD-Agencies)