The Chicago Indie Critics Announce their Windie Award Winners

Last night was the 8th annual Chicago Indie Critics Awards, now known as the Windie Awards, and it was a great night to hang out with colleagues, talk about movies, and give out some awards. I presented the Windie for Best Documentary, if you follow our reviews you know I have a thing for documentaries, and the winner of the Windie was Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie. While the winners were not in attendance, Davis Guffenheim and Annetta Marion, producers of the film, did send us a video thanking the Chicago Indie Critics for the win.

Other winners who sent us some words of appreciation were Sarah Greenwood for Best Production Design on Barbie and Celine Song, who won multiple awards including, Breakout Artist, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Independent Film for Past Lives. Past Lives is one of the movies I loved in 2023 and I hope more people see it during this awards season.

There were a handful of nominees in attendance and we were lucky to speak with Natalie Shea Rose, who was a make up artist on The Iron Claw. Natalie had some great stories from the set and from her profession that we could have talked to her all night.

If you want to know who else were the big winners at last night’s event, keep reading and see if any of your favorites were winners.

Finishing their eighth year as a recognized awards-voting body and haven for film critics of diverse backgrounds and talents, the Chicago Indie Critics have announced the 2023 winners of their Windie Awards. The voting film critic members completed their final 25-category ballots this past week. The Chicago Indie Critics presented their 2023 Windie Award winners on the evening of January 20, 2024 at a private invitation-only Awards Party at Chicago Filmmakers on Hollywood Avenue in Chicago.

Leading all nominated films with seven total Windie Award wins is Oppenheimer, the dominant summer blockbuster directed by Christopher Nolan and released by Universal Pictures. Nolan himself was named for three awards: Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director, and a producer on Best Studio Film. Oppenheimer also earned Windie Awards for Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Ensemble, and Best Supporting Actor for Robert Downey Jr.. Joining him in the acting categories, Paul Giamatti of The Holdovers and Emma Stone of Poor Things won lead acting awards while Da’Vine Joy Randolph won Best Supporting Actor for The Holdovers.

The next winningest films at the Windie Awards were three wins each for Past Lives, Poor Things, and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. The former earned Best Indie Film, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Breakout Artist for its writer-director Celine Song. The latter was bestowed the Windie Awards for Best Animated Feature, Best Original Score, and Best Sight Unseen Performance for Oscar Isaac. In other top categories, The Zone of Interest was named the Best Foreign Film and Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie was declared the Best Documentary of the year.

In a special category of local recognition, the Chicago Indie Critics annually presents The Impact Award. The distinction celebrates a group or person whose work during the past year or beyond had a positive influence on the Chicagoland film community. This year’s Impact Award winner is Dennis Scott, the beloved organist at Chicago’s famed Music Box Theatre. Mr. Scott was graciously present at Chicago Filmmakers to receive the Impact Award in person. The proud voting body of the Chicago Indie Critics congratulates Mr. Scott and all of the Windie Award winners.

2023 WINDIE AWARD WINNERS

BEST INDEPENDENT FILM
Past Lives
Producers: Christine Vachon, Pamela Koffler, and David Hinojosa

BEST STUDIO FILM
Oppenheimer
Producers: Christopher Nolan, Charles Roven, and Emma Thomas

BEST FOREIGN FILM
The Zone of Interest
Producers: James Wilson and Ewa Puszczyńska

BEST DOCUMENTARY
Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie
Producers: Davis Guggenheim, Annetta Marion, Jonathan King, and Will Cohen

BEST ANIMATED FILM
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Producers: Phil Lord, Chris Miller, Avi Arad, Amy Pascal, and Christina Steinberg

BEST DIRECTOR
Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Past Lives – Celine Song

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY Oppenheimer – Christopher Nolan

BEST ACTOR
Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers

BEST ACTRESS
Emma Stone, Poor Things

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Robert Downey Jr., Oppenheimer

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Da’Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers

BEST ENSEMBLE
Oppenheimer
Casting director: John Papsidera

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Oppenheimer – Hoyte van Hoytema

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Barbie – Sarah Greenwood and Katie Spencer

BEST COSTUMES
Poor Things – Holly Waddington

BEST MAKEUP
Poor Things – Nadia Stacey, Mark Coulier, and Josh Weston

BEST EDITING
Oppenheimer – Jennifer Lame

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse – Daniel Pemberton

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
“I’m Just Ken” – Barbie
Written by Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Godzilla Minus One – Kiyoko Shibuya and Takashi Yamazaki

BEST STUNTS
John Wick: Chapter 4 – Stephen Dunleavy, Scott Rogers, and Jeremy Marinas

BREAKOUT ARTIST
Celine Song

SIGHT UNSEEN PERFORMANCE
Oscar Isaac, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

IMPACT AWARD
Local award given to individuals who have made a positive impact on Chicago cinema
Dennis Scott – Music Box Theatre organist

WINNERS BY THE NUMBERS:
7: Oppenheimer
3: Past Lives, Poor Things, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
2: Barbie, The Holdovers
1: Godzilla Minus One, John Wick: Chapter 4, Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie, The Zone of Interest

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