The 34th Film Independent Spirit Awards, honoring the best independent films of 2018, were presented by Film Independent on February 23, 2019. The nominations were announced on November 16, 2018 by actresses Molly Shannon and Gemma Chan. The ceremony was televised in the United States by IFC, taking place inside its usual tent setting on a beach in Santa Monica, California. It was hosted by Aubrey Plaza.

Best Feature	Best Director
If Beale Street Could Talk Eighth Grade First Reformed Leave No Trace You Were Never Really Here	Barry Jenkins – If Beale Street Could Talk Debra Granik – Leave No Trace Tamara Jenkins – Private Life Lynne Ramsay – You Were Never Really Here Paul Schrader – First Reformed
Best Male Lead	Best Female Lead
Ethan Hawke – First Reformed as Pastor Ernst Toller John Cho – Searching as David Kim Daveed Diggs – Blindspotting as Collin Hoskins Christian Malheiros – Sócrates as Sócrates Joaquin Phoenix – You Were Never Really Here as Joe	Glenn Close – The Wife as Joan Castleman Toni Collette – Hereditary as Annie Graham Elsie Fisher – Eighth Grade as Kayla Day Regina Hall – Support the Girls as Lisa Conroy Helena Howard – Madeline's Madeline as Madeline Carey Mulligan – Wildlife as Jeanette Brinson
Best Supporting Male	Best Supporting Female
Richard E. Grant – Can You Ever Forgive Me? as Jack Hock Raúl Castillo – We the Animals as Paps Adam Driver – BlacKkKlansman as Detective Philip "Flip" Zimmerman Josh Hamilton – Eighth Grade as Mark Day John David Washington – Monsters and Men as Dennis Williams	Regina King – If Beale Street Could Talk as Sharon Rivers Kayli Carter – Private Life as Sadie Barrett Tyne Daly – A Bread Factory as Dorothea Thomasin McKenzie – Leave No Trace as Tom J. Smith-Cameron – Nancy as Ellen Lynch
Best Screenplay	Best First Screenplay
Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty – Can You Ever Forgive Me? Richard Glatzer, Rebecca Lenkiewicz, and Wash Westmoreland – Colette Tamara Jenkins – Private Life Boots Riley – Sorry to Bother You Paul Schrader – First Reformed	Bo Burnham – Eighth Grade Christina Choe – Nancy Cory Finley – Thoroughbreds Jennifer Fox – The Tale Laurie Shephard and Quinn Shephard – Blame
Best First Feature	Best Documentary Feature
Boots Riley – Sorry to Bother You Ari Aster – Hereditary Paul Dano – Wildlife Jennifer Fox – The Tale Jeremiah Zagar – We the Animals	Won't You Be My Neighbor? Hale County This Morning, This Evening Minding the Gap Of Fathers and Sons On Her Shoulders Shirkers
Best Cinematography	Best Editing
Sayombhu Mukdeeprom – Suspiria Ashley Connor – Madeline's Madeline Diego García – Wildlife Benjamin Loeb – Mandy Zak Mulligan – We the Animals	Joe Bini – You Were Never Really Here Keiko Deguchi, Brian A. Kates, and Jeremiah Zagar – We the Animals Luke Dunkley, Nick Fenton, Chris Gill, and Julian Hart – American Animals Anne Fabini, Alex Hall, and Gary Levy – The Tale Nick Houy – Mid90s
Best International Film
Roma ( Mexico) Burning ( South Korea) The Favourite ( United Kingdom) Happy as Lazzaro ( Italy) Shoplifters ( Japan)

Films that received multiple nominations

Nominations	Film
4	Eighth Grade
	First Reformed
	We the Animals
	You Were Never Really Here
3	If Beale Street Could Talk
	Leave No Trace
	Private Life
	Sócrates
	The Tale
	Wildlife
2	A Bread Factory
	Can You Ever Forgive Me?
	Hale County This Morning, This Evening
	Hereditary
	Madeline's Madeline
	Minding the Gap
	Nancy
	On Her Shoulders
	Sorry to Bother You
	Suspiria

Films that won multiple awards

Awards	Film
3	If Beale Street Could Talk
2	Can You Ever Forgive Me?

En el séptimo día

• A Bread Factory
• Never Goin' Back
• Sócrates
• Thunder Road

(The award is given to its film director, casting director, and ensemble cast)

• Suspiria

Recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Kiehl's.

• Alex Moratto – Sócrates
  • Ioana Uricaru – Lemonade
  • Jeremiah Zagar – We the Animals

Recognizes mid-career women directors with a body of work that demonstrates uniqueness of vision and a groundbreaking approach to film making. The award includes a $50,000 unrestricted grant funded by American Airlines.

• Debra Granik
  • Tamara Jenkins
  • Karyn Kusama

Honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce quality, independent films. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Piaget.

• Shrihari Sathe
  • Jonathan Duffy and Kelly Williams
  • Gabrielle Nadig

Presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant.

• Bing Liu – Minding the Gap
  • Alexandria Bombach – On Her Shoulders
  • RaMell Ross – Hale County This Morning, This Evening

• 91st Academy Awards
• 76th Golden Globe Awards
• 72nd British Academy Film Awards
• 39th Golden Raspberry Awards
• 25th Screen Actors Guild Awards
• 24th Critics' Choice Awards

• Film Independent Spirit Awards official website