Don Shanahan
Celebrating their eighth year with a new logo and redesigned website, the Chicago Indie Critics have announced the nominees for their Windie Awards. The voting film critic members completed ballots this week to select Windie nominees in 25 categories. The CIC members will commence a final round of voting ending on January 12, 2024. The 2023 Windie winners will be announced on the evening of January 20, 2024. The group is hosting an invitation-only private Awards Party at Chicago Filmmakers on Hollywood Avenue in Chicago. Film Obsessive Editor in Chief Don Shanahan is a founder and co-director of Chicago Indie Critics and site writers Kevin Wozniak, Jay Rohr, Aqib Rasheed, and Mike Crowley are also CIC members.
Topping all films with 13 stellar Windie nominations is Barbie, directed by Greta Gerwig. The Warner Bros. tentpole and colorful explosion of cinema and comedy was nominated for Best Studio Film, Best Director for Gerwig, Best Original Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor for Ryan Gosling, Best Supporting Actress for America Ferrera, and in the artistic categories of cinematography, production design, costumes, makeup, original score, sight unseen performance, and two original songs. Following right behind was Christopher Nolan’s explosive dramatic opus Oppenheimer with 12 Windie nominations, including selections for Best Studio Film, Best Supporting Actor for Robert Downey Jr., Best Supporting Actress for Emily Blunt, and Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay nominations for Nolan himself.
The next closest films for total Windie nominations were Poor Things with 10 nominations and The Holdovers with 8. Those two join Barbie and Oppenheimer in the Best Studio Film with Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. In the other top film category, the five nominees for the Best Independent Film of the year (budgeted $30 million and under) include All of Us Strangers, Anatomy of a Fall, The Iron Claw, Past Lives, and The Zone of Interest. Altogether, 22 films received multiple Windie nominations, and 37 films overall were represented across all categories.
As 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 nominees include Rebecca Fons of The Gene Siskel Film Center, Morgan Harris of the Acacia Consulting Group, critic Dann Gire and author Raymond Benson of the “Dan and Raymond Movie Club,” the Music Box Theatre programming team of Katie Rife, Will Morris, and Ryan Oestreich, and the beloved Music Box Theatre organist Dennis Scott.
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The complete list of nominations for the 2023 Windie Awards from Chicago Indie Critics:
BEST INDEPENDENT FILM
All of Us Strangers
Anatomy of a Fall
The Iron Claw
Past Lives
The Zone of Interest
BEST STUDIO FILM
Barbie
The Holdovers
Oppenheimer
Poor Things
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
BEST FOREIGN FILM
Anatomy of a Fall
The Boy and the Heron
Godzilla Minus One
When Evil Lurks
The Zone of Interest
BEST DOCUMENTARY
American Symphony
The Disappearance of Shere Hite
Silver Dollar Road
Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie
20 Days in Mariupol
BEST ANIMATED FILM
The Boy and the Heron
Elemental
Nimona
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
BEST DIRECTOR
Greta Gerwig, Barbie
Alexander Payne, The Holdovers
Bradley Cooper, Maestro
Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer
Celine Song, Past Lives
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Anatomy of a Fall – Justine Triet and Arthur Harari
Barbie – Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach
The Holdovers – David Hemingson
The Iron Claw – Sean Durkin
Past Lives – Celine Song
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
American Fiction – Cord Jefferson
Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret. – Kelly Fremon Craig
Killers of the Flower Moon – Eric Roth and Martin Scorsese
Oppenheimer – Christopher Nolan
Poor Things – Tony McNamara
BEST ACTOR
Jeffrey Wright, American Fiction
Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers
Bradley Cooper, Maestro
Cillian Murphy, Oppenheimer
Teo Yoo, Past Lives
BEST ACTRESS
Sandra Hüller, Anatomy of a Fall
Lily Gladstone, Killers of the Flower Moon
Carey Mulligan, Maestro
Greta Lee, Past Lives
Emma Stone, Poor Things
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Ryan Gosling, Barbie
Glenn Howerton, BlackBerry
Dominic Sessa, The Holdovers
Charles Melton, May December
Robert Downey Jr., Oppenheimer
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Emily Blunt, Oppenheimer
America Ferrera, Barbie
Rachel McAdams, Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret.
Julianne Moore, May December
Da’Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers
BEST ENSEMBLE
American Fiction
Asteroid City
The Holdovers
Oppenheimer
Poor Things
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Barbie – Rodrigo Prieto
Killers of the Flower Moon – Rodrigo Prieto
Oppenheimer – Hoyte van Hoytema
Poor Things – Robbie Ryan
The Zone of Interest – Łukasz Żal
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Barbie – Susan Greenwood and Katie Spencer
The Color Purple – Paul Denham Austerberry and Larry Dias
Killers of the Flower Moon – Jack Fisk
Oppenheimer – Ruth De Jong
Poor Things – Shona Heath and James Price
BEST COSTUMES
Barbie – Jacqueline Durran
The Color Purple – Francine Jamison-Tanchuck
Killers of the Flower Moon – Jacqueline West
Poor Things – Holly Waddington
Priscilla – Stacey Battat
Wonka – Lindy Hemming
BEST MAKEUP
Barbie – Ivana Primorac
The Iron Claw – Natalie Shea Rose and Elle Favorule
Maestro – Kazu Hiro, Sian Grigg, Kay Georgiou, Lori McCoy-Bell
Poor Things – Nadia Stacey, Mark Couler, and Josh Weston
Priscilla – Jo-Ann MacNeil and Cliona Furey
BEST EDITING
The Holdovers – Kevin Tent
The Iron Claw – Matthew Hannam
Oppenheimer – Jennifer Lame
Poor Things – Yorgos Mavropsaridis
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse – Michael Andrews
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Barbie – Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt
The Boy and the Heron – Joe Hisaishi
Killers of the Flower Moon – Robbie Robertson
Oppenheimer – Ludwig Göransson
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse – Daniel Pemberton
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
“I’m Just Ken” – Barbie
“What Was I Made For?” – Barbie
“Keep It Movin’” – The Color Purple
“Peaches” – The Super Mario Bros. Movie
“A World of Your Own” – Wonka
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
The Creator – Jay Cooper, Ian Comley, Andrew Roberts, and Neil Corbould
Godzilla Minus One – Kiyoko Shibuya and Takashi Yamazaki
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 – Stephane Ceretti, Alexis Wajsbrot, Guy Williams, and Dan Sudick
Oppenheimer – Andrew Jackson, Giacomo Mineo, Scott Fisher, and Dave Drzewiecki
Poor Things – Simon Hughes
BEST STUNTS
The Iron Claw – Hiro Koda and Chavo Guerrero Jr.
John Wick: Chapter 4 – Stephen Dunleavy, Scott Rogers, and Jeremy Marinas
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One – Wade Eastwood and Rudolf Vrba
Polite Society – Crispin Layfield and Rob Lock
Sisu – Oula Kitti
BREAKOUT ARTIST
Charles Melton
Dominic Sessa
Cailee Spaeny
Celine Song
Sophie Wilde
SIGHT UNSEEN PERFORMANCE
Helen Mirren, Barbie
Bradley Cooper, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
Oscar Isaac, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Hailee Steinfeld, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Jack Black, The Super Mario Bros. Movie
IMPACT AWARD
Local award given to individuals who have made a positive impact on Chicago cinema
Rebecca Fons – Gene Siskel Film Center
Dann Gire and Raymond Benson – “Dan and Raymond Movie Club”
Morgan Harris – Acacia Media Group
Katie Rife, Will Morris, and Ryan Oestreich – Music Box Theatre programming
Dennis Scott – Music Box Theatre organist
ABOUT CHICAGO INDIE CRITICS
Chicago Indie Critics (CIC) is a creative and engaging not-for-profit organization composed of unique, dedicated, and diversified film critics organized by Illinois Indie Critics NFP. Our members are wide-ranging in experiences, backgrounds, tastes, diversities, and target audiences across both print and online platforms and publications. We have organized to share our personal assessments, commentaries, passions, and creativity in the vigilant effort to highlight the greatness and diversity found in both independent and mainstream films. While we originate in the Chicagoland area, the efforts of Chicago Indie Critics are to share, celebrate, and promote the rich artistic medium of film to audiences, fans, and eager minds across the nation and world as an exemplary and upstanding pillar of intelligent print and broadcast journalism.
