Columbia Filmmakers Bring Home 2024 Spirit Awards

Update: 

Winners of the 2024 Independent Spirit Awards were announced last week, and several Columbia filmmakers brought home major awards. 

Past Lives continued its incredible award streak by bringing home the coveted Best Feature award. Theatre alumna Celine Song '14, who wrote and directed the touching film about friendship and missed connections, was also honored with the award for Best Director. 

Dear Mama, executive produced by Professor Jamal Joseph, won Best New Non-Scripted or Documentary Series. The series follows the life and legacy of the great rapper and poet Tupac Shakur and his mother, the Black Panther activist Afeni Shakur. 

Beef, a new series about two people who let a road rage incident burrow into their minds and slowly consume their every thought and action, won Best New Scripted Series. Writing alumna Jean Kyoung Frazier '18 is a writer on the show. Lead actress Ali Wong also brought home an award for Best Lead Performance.

Finally, The Holdovers written by David Hemingson (LAW '90), snapped up three major awards—Best Cinematography, Best Breakthrough Performance (Dominic Sessa), and Best Supporting Performance (Da’Vine Joy Randolph). 

See a full list of 2024 Spirit Award winners here.

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Original: January 25, 2024

2024 Independent Spirit Award nominations have been announced, and a number of Columbia filmmakers have had their work recognized. 

We Grown Now, executive produced by Professor James Schamus, is nominated for three awards—Best Feature, Best Cinematography, and Best Editing. The film tells the story of two young boys, best friends Malik and Eric, who discover the joys and hardships of growing up in the sprawling Cabrini-Green public housing complex in 1992 Chicago.

The stunning Past Lives, written and directed by Theatre alumna Celine Song '14, was nominated for Best Feature, Best Director, and Best Screenplay as well as Best Lead Performance twice for both starring actors Greta Lee and Teo Yoo. The film follows Nora and Hae Sung, two deeply connected childhood friends who are wrested apart after Nora's family emigrates from South Korea. Twenty years later, they are reunited for one fateful week as they confront notions of love and destiny.

Also pulling in several nominations was Passages, executive produced by Hannah Janal '15 and Ali Betil '14. The film is up for Best Feature, Best Director, Best Lead Performance (Franz Rogowski), and Best Supporting Performance (Ben Whishaw). Passages plunges the audience into a gay couple's marriage crisis, when one of them impulsively begins a passionate affair with a young woman.

Dear Mama, executive produced by Professor Jamal Joseph, was nominated for Best New Non-Scripted or Documentary Series. The series follows the life and legacy of the great rapper and poet Tupac Shakur and his mother, the Black Panther activist Afeni Shakur. 

In the Television categories, The Changeling—based on the novel by Writing Professor Victor Lavalle—was nominated for Best Supporting Performance in a New Scripted Series (Adina Porter) as well as Best Breakthrough Performance (Clark Backo) in a New Scripted Series. Set in an alternate New York City, The Changeling depicts a father and husband searching through a magical world for his abducted son and missing wife.

Lastly, Theatre Camp, produced by Erik Feig (CC '92), tracks the eccentric staff of a rundown theater camp in upstate New York as it must band together with the beloved founder's bro-y son to keep the camp afloat. The film was nominated for Best Supporting Performance (Noah Galvin), Best Editing, and Best First Screenplay. 

Winners of the Independent Spirit Awards will be announced on February 25, 2024. See a full list of nominees here.