Inside IndieWire Honors, Where Film Luminaries Mixed, Mingled, and Celebrated the Power of Bold Storytelling

There are not normally a lot of barricades outside our humble event honoring some of our favorite filmmakers, stars, and artisans on the trail this awards season, but the winter edition of IndieWire Honors, our first to focus solely on film, was our starriest event yet.

At a cocktail hour, guests sipped on Gia Coppola Wine and Rabbit Hole Whiskey. In attendance were the casts and filmmakers of “The Last Showgirl” and “Nickel Boys,” who met backstage, including director Coppola, screenwriter Kate Gertsen, actors Brenda Song, Ethan Herisse, plus recent Gotham Award winner Brandon Wilson — there to support Performance Award recipient Pamela Anderson and Auteur Award recipient RaMell Ross. Then the awards kicked off. IndieWire publisher James Israel and editor-in-chief Dana Harris-Bridson provided an overview of the night honoring everyone from “Dune” director Denis Villeneuve to stars Jennifer Lopez and Selena Gomez (hence the crowd outdoors).

Setting the tone for the night was “Red Rocket” and “Blink Twice” star Simon Rex, in a full circle moment back to his early MTV days, hosting the event with a monologue that commented on the current state of the industry. “It’s a strange time we’re in. People are getting laid off left and right. I miss the days when people were just getting laid, period,” he joked, eliciting laughs and a couple cheers.

Delivering the first acceptance speech was the “Moana 2” songwriting team Emily Bear and Abigail Barlow, on a bit of a victory lap after the highly-anticipated Disney sequel broke box office records, receiving the Breakthrough Award. The pair extolled upon the opportunity they had to join people like the film’s co-writer and co-director Dana Ledoux Miller in expanding upon what a Disney Princess could be through tracks like “Beyond.”

Next were producer Amy Pascal and screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes accepting the Impact Award for “Challengers,” with Pascal providing some perspective on just how hard getting a movie made has always been, before Kuritzkes noted that much of the time, in a world where studios believe only characters like Spider-Man, Elphaba, and Deadpool can get people to come to theaters, independent filmmakers will ask themselves, “How the fuck are we supposed to compete with that?” But ultimately, their film succeeded through the belief of Pascal and her producing partner Rachel O’Connor, as well as director Luca Guadagnino, lead actress Zendaya, and more. “You get there by never losing sight of the vision that will lead us to a place like this,” said the writer.

For the Wavelength Award, “Blitz” production designer Adam Stockhausen praised his fellow recipient Steve McQueen, and their years of working together, while the director said “collaboration is about love,” and took a moment to pay tribute to another one of his colleagues, first assistant director Adam Somner, who died recently.

Magnify Award recipients Natalie Rae and Angela Patton, directors of Sundance winner “Daughters,” talked of how their documentary “celebrates the strength and love of Black girls and their families,” which in turn amplifies those voices, letting the industry know that young Black women, and women of color, are a group we should more often pay attention to and invest in.

With her acceptance speech for the Maverick Award, “Unstoppable” star Jennifer Lopez shared that she looked up what exactly it means to be a maverick, seeing results that compared the title to “an individualist, a nonconformist, a free spirit, an original, a trendsetter, an eccentric, an outsider, a rebel, a dissident, a disruptor,” and so on. Embracing the title, reflective of Judy Robles, the real life woman she plays in the upcoming Amazon film as well, Lopez thanked IndieWire for honoring “who I am and who I’ve had to be.”

Jennifer Lopez, Angela Patton, and Natalie Rae at the IndieWire Honors Winter 2024Michael Buckner

Coming off of several recent award wins, plus a spot atop our list of Top Movies of 2024, “Nickel Boys” filmmaker RaMell Ross began his acceptance speech for the Auteur Award with some levity, giving extra kudos to several fellow honorees from the podium before adhering to what he’d written in advance about the serious work he’s done challenging the idea of Blackness, and the ramifications of an identity adhered upon Black Americans.

Meanwhile, “Emilia Pérez” star Selena Gomez, accepting the Spotlight Award, talked about the power of independent film, and how indie icons like Jacques Audiard, Jim Jarmusch, and Harmony Korine “were the filmmakers that believed in me and didn’t care about what came with it and just trusted me with their characters,” therefore allowing the former Disney star to show off the breadth of her talent.

While “Dune: Part Two” director Denis Villenueve reflected upon his relationship to film critics while accepting the Visionary Award, saying, “Film critics are like mirrors, and it can be frightening to see our reflection through your eyes,” Spark Award recipient Chris Sanders used his speech to shoutout some of the animators that accompanied “The Wild Robot” director to the event, saying they helped bring the “analog warmth” to the film that has been missing from the medium in recent years.

Closing the show was Performance Award recipient Pamela Anderson, who in turn expressed gratitude for her lead role in the celebrated “The Last Showgirl,” saying, “I just hope it’s only the beginning,” and in mentioning her two sons, added, “I only ever wanted to make you proud.”

Ethan Herisse, RaMell Ross, and Brandon Wilson pose with the Auteur Award for “Nickel Boys” at IndieWire Honors Winter 2024Michael Buckner

After the awards presentation concluded, several of the honorees stuck around to mingle inside the Citizen News event space, leading to wonderful interactions between Lopez and “Daughters” directors Rae and Patton, as well as Anderson and Coppola meeting McQueen. Hopefully, in due time, these link ups lead to collaborations to be feted at future editions of IndieWire Honors for film.