{"id":3823,"date":"2019-02-25T19:41:30","date_gmt":"2019-02-25T19:41:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/?p=3823"},"modified":"2019-02-25T21:00:55","modified_gmt":"2019-02-25T21:00:55","slug":"unlike-the-oscars-the-indie-spirit-awards-allowed-the-most-authentic-films-to-shine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/unlike-the-oscars-the-indie-spirit-awards-allowed-the-most-authentic-films-to-shine\/","title":{"rendered":"Unlike The Oscars, The Indie Spirit Awards Allowed The Most Authentic Films To Shine"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
“Sorry to Bother You” wins Best First Feature at the Indie Spirit Awards<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Due to the Oscars completely overshadowing the awards season, I was clueless that an awards ceremony dedicated to independent filmmakers even existed. In fact, I desperately wanted to pitch this exact idea to whoever would listen. Oftentimes, The Academy chooses films that fit their agenda, and overlooks the filmmakers who are perhaps telling the most distinct and authentic stories. To my delightful surprise, (yet disappointment for missing it my <\/b>entire<\/i><\/b> life), the Indie Spirit Awards was founded in 1984, and this past weekend marked its 34th ceremony. <\/b><\/p>\n

When I realized that <\/b>Parks and Recreation\u2019s<\/i><\/b> Aubrey Plaza was given the opportunity to host, I instantly knew that this would be a much more enjoyable ride than the Academy Awards. From Plaza\u2019s deadpan humor to her unapologetic awkwardness, she\u2019s always been incredibly human\u2013a stark comparison to how robotic most hosts at the more mainstream awards ceremonies appear. <\/b><\/p>\n

After watching Plaza\u2019s opening monologue, I appreciated the fact that the ceremony doesn\u2019t take itself too seriously, but also truly values independent content. \u201c<\/b>Tidying Up<\/i><\/b> or <\/b>Roma<\/i><\/b>? Either way, I\u2019m going to watch someone clean up a bunch of shit, so who cares,\u201d said Plaza. <\/b><\/p>\n

She even pointed out the irony that <\/b>BlacKkKlansman\u2019s<\/i><\/b> Adam Driver, the \u201cwhite savior\u201d cop, was the only nominee. \u201cCongratulations, Adam. I\u2019m sure you\u2019ll do the white thing,\u201d she said, as the camera zoomed in on a highly uncomfortable Adam. Profanity, <\/b>Bohemian Rhapsody<\/i><\/b> burns, and jokes that don\u2019t seem so scripted that they\u2019re cringey are allowed at the Indie Spirit Awards, and it\u2019s highly refreshing.<\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Although it was snubbed at the Oscars, Barry Jenkins\u2019 heartfelt film <\/b>If Beale Street Could Talk<\/i><\/b> won Best Feature, and Jenkins was also honored with the Best Director award. In an extraordinary weekend for Regina King, the talented actress won for Best Supporting Actress at both the Indie Spirit Awards and the Oscars.<\/b><\/p>\n

In my personal favorite part of the ceremony, Boots Riley\u2019s masterpiece <\/b>Sorry to Bother You<\/i><\/b> finally received its due. It isn\u2019t surprising that the film received no Oscar nominations, and Riley previously told IndieWire that because there was no campaign surrounding the film, it basically didn\u2019t stand a chance. <\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cThe largest factor as to why we didn\u2019t get nominated is that we didn\u2019t actually run a campaign that aimed to get a nomination for Screenplay or Song,\u201d Riley said. \u201cWe didn\u2019t buy For Your Consideration ads in the trade magazines and we didn\u2019t service the whole academy with screeners. Without that, its perceived that you don\u2019t have a chance, or enough buzz.\u201d <\/b><\/p>\n

Being expected to spend a hefty amount of revenue on campaigns just for Oscar consideration proves that it\u2019s more of a popularity and status game, and much less about the art. Thankfully, <\/b>Sorry to Bother You<\/i><\/b> triumphed at this year\u2019s Indie Spirit Awards, and took home the award for Best First Feature. <\/b><\/p>\n

But The Oscars Had A Few Memorable Moments, Too<\/b><\/h1>\n

Despite the entire agenda behind the Oscars, this year\u2019s Academy Awards heavily honored minorities, four years after the viral #OscarsSoWhite. \u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

Spike Lee took home his first-ever Oscar, winning Best Adapted Screenplay for <\/b>BlacKkKlansman<\/i><\/b>. Peter Ramsey (<\/b>Spider Man: Into The Spider-Verse<\/i><\/b>) became the first Black director to win the Oscar for Best Animated Feature. <\/b><\/p>\n

And of course,<\/b> the praised <\/b>Black Panther<\/i><\/b> made history in multiple ways. Nominated for a total of seven Oscars, it\u2019s the first Marvel film to ever win an Oscar. Ruth E. Carter became the first African-American woman to win in the Best Costume Design category for <\/b>Black Panther<\/i><\/b>. Shortly after, Hannah Beachler took home her first Oscar for Best Production Design. Not only was Beachler the first woman of color to win, but she was also the first to be nominated. <\/b><\/p>\n

But <\/b>Black Panther<\/i><\/b> didn\u2019t win Best Picture. Rather, the controversial <\/b>Green Book<\/i><\/b> took home one of the highest honors, which has been referred to as a white savior film that fails to accurately depict the true story of Dr. Don Shirley. <\/b><\/p>\n

At times, it felt as though everyone was speaking Spanish at this year\u2019s Oscars, which was extremely satisfying in Trump\u2019s America. Multiple acceptance speeches, particularly for <\/b>Roma<\/i><\/b>, were given in Spanish. Javier Bardem even slammed the border wall in Spanish. <\/b>\u201cThere are no borders or walls that can restrain ingenuity and talent,\u201d he said.<\/b><\/p>\n

Although the Oscars has evidently became more diverse, women filmmakers still aren\u2019t being recognized. \u00a0Zero women were nominated for Best Director this year, and there weren\u2019t any female-directed films in the Best Picture category. <\/b><\/p>\n

There\u2019s clearly been improvement overall, but personally, I\u2019ll continue to be unimpressed with the Oscars until it\u2019s less about money and more about the artistry behind these films. In an alternate reality, this notion could possibly occur. But in this reality, I\u2019ll continue to watch the Indie Spirit Awards where smaller filmmakers are given their chance to shine, and eccentric films like <\/b>Sorry to Bother You<\/i><\/b> aren\u2019t left out of the party. <\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Due to the Oscars completely overshadowing the awards season, I was clueless that an awards ceremony dedicated to independent filmmakers even existed. In fact, I desperately wanted to pitch this exact idea to whoever would listen. Oftentimes, The Academy chooses films that fit their agenda, and overlooks the filmmakers who are perhaps telling the most […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":3824,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[582],"tags":[537,31,298,584,83,583,51],"class_list":["post-3823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-perspective","tag-academy-awards","tag-featured","tag-if-beale-street-could-talk","tag-indie-spirit-awards","tag-sorry-to-bother-you","tag-the-oscars","tag-trending"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3823"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3823\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/magazine.watchjaro.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}