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Chicago Indie Critics Name Their 2024 Windie Award Winners

Courtesy of Mubi

Finishing their ninth year as a recognized awards-voting body and haven for film critics of diverse backgrounds and talents, the Chicago Indie Critics (CIC) have announced the 2024 winners of their Windie Awards. The voting film critic members completed their final 27-category ballots this past week. The Chicago Indie Critics presented their 2024 Windie Award winners on the evening of January 16th, 2025 at a private invitation-only Awards Party. Film Obsessive Editor-in-Chief Don Shanahan, staff writers Jay Rohr, Kevin Wozniak, and the team of George Bate and Josh Bate are all voting members of Chicago Indie Critics. 

Logo for Chicago Indie Critics
Image courtesy of Chicago Indie Critics

Leading all nominated films with seven total Windie Award wins is The Substance, the breakout body-horror film directed by Coralie Fargeat and released by MUBI. Fargeat herself earned four awards: Best Original Screenplay, Best Director, Best Breakout Artist, and as a producer on Best Independent Film. The Substance also earned Windie Awards for Best Actress for Demi Moore and Best Supporting Actress for Margaret Qualley. The CIC made sure to respect the balance there! Lastly, Pierre-Olivier Persin wrapped up the Windie haul for The Substance with a win for Best Makeup.

The next winningest films at the 2024 Windie Awards was an impressive five-way tie with three wins each for The Brutalist, Dune: Part Two, Nosferatu, Sing Sing, and The Wild Robot. Denis Villeneuve’s sci-fi blockbuster Dune: Part Two was named Best Studio film, and two technical awards in Best Sound and Best VFX. Brady Corbet’s sprawling American epic, The Brutalist, took home Best Actor for Adrien Brody, and then shared Best Production Design with Robert Egger’s chilling remake of Nosferatu. In another tie, Guy Pearce of The Brutalist shared Best Supporting Actor honors with Clarence Maclin of Sing Sing, whose real life experiences shaped the film itself.

Nosferatu was named the Windie Award winner in both Best Cinematography and Best Costumes, while Sing Sing was named Best Ensemble. Clarence Maclin also took home a second award in Best Breakout Performance. Lastly, the animated adventure with a beating heart known as The Wild Robot, was named for Best Animated Film, Best Score, and The Wild Robot herself, Lupita N’yongo, took home the Sight Unseen Performance award. In other top categories, Flow was named the Best Foreign Film and CIC believed a man could fly as they declared Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story, the Best Documentary of this past 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 Kyle Cubr, programmer at Chicago’s famed Music Box Theatre. Mr. Cubr organized last June’s Godzilla vs. Music Box anniversary event which drew big roars and big crowds. The proud voting body of the Chicago Indie Critics congratulates Mr. Cubr and all of the Windie Award winners. The full list of winners is below:

BEST INDEPENDENT FILM

The Substance

Producers: Coralie Fargeat, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner

BEST STUDIO FILM

Dune: Part Two

Producers: Mary Parent, Cale Boyter, Tanya Lapointe, and Denis Villeneuve

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM

Flow

Producers: Gints Zilbalodis, Matīss Kaža, Ron Dyens, and Gregory Zalcman

BEST DOCUMENTARY FILM

Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story

Director and Producers: Robert Ford, Lizzie Gillett, Ian Bonhôte, Connor Schell, and Libby Geist

BEST ANIMATED FILM

The Wild Robot

Director and Producer: Chris Sanders and Jeff Hermann

BEST DIRECTOR

Coralie Fargeat – The Substance

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

The Substance – Coralie Fargeat

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Nickel Boys – RaMell Ross and Joslyn Barnes

BEST ACTOR

Adrien Brody – The Brutalist

BEST ACTRESS

Demi Moore – The Substance

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR (tie)

Clarence Maclin – Sing Sing

Guy Pearce – The Brutalist

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Margaret Qualley – The Substance

BEST ENSEMBLE

Sing Sing

Casting Director: Greg Kwedar

BEST BREAKOUT PERFORMER

Clarence Maclin – Sing Sing

BEST BREAKOUT ARTIST

Coralie Fargeat – The Substance

SIGHT UNSEEN PERFORMANCE

Lupita Nyong’o – The Wild Robot

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Nosferatu – Jarin Blaschke

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN (tie)

The Brutalist – Judy Becker

Nosferatu – Craig Lathrop

BEST EDITING

Challengers – Marco Costa

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Nosferatu – Linda Muir

BEST MAKEUP

The Substance – Pierre-Olivier Persin

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Dune: Part Two – Paul Lambert, Stephen James, Rhys Salcombe, and Gerd Nefzer

BEST STUNTS

Monkey Man

Stunt Coordinator: Udeh Nans

BEST SOUND

Dune: Part Two – Gareth John, Richard King, Ron Bartlett, and Doug Hemphill

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

The Wild Robot – Kris Bowers

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

“Compress/Repress” – Challengers

Songwriters: Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, and Luca Guadagnino

THE IMPACT AWARD

Given to individual or group who has made a positive impact on local Chicago cinema

Kyle Cubr – Programmer, Music Box Theatre


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.

Written by Don Shanahan

DON SHANAHAN is a Chicago-based Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic writing here on Film Obsessive as the Editor-in-Chief and Content Supervisor for the film department. He also writes for his own website, Every Movie Has a Lesson. Don is one of the hosts of the Cinephile Hissy Fit Podcast on the Ruminations Radio Network and sponsored by Film Obsessive. As a school teacher by day, Don writes his movie reviews with life lessons in mind, from the serious to the farcical. He is a proud director and one of the founders of the Chicago Indie Critics and a voting member of the nationally-recognized Critics Choice Association, Hollywood Creative Alliance, Online Film Critics Society, North American Film Critics Association, International Film Society Critics Association, Internet Film Critics Society, Online Film and TV Association, and the Celebrity Movie Awards.

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