Being a member of the Indiana Film Journalists Association is a point of pride, and as our group grows, I think our awards choices get more interesting. The Substance is one of my favorite films of the year (I'll have my personal top ten list closer to the end of the year or, more likely, early next year), and it's a bold choice for Best Film and Leading and Supporting performances.
The IFJA prides itself on picking movies that interest us whether they are traditional awards-bait movies from big studios or unique visions from independent filmmakers. If we like it, we like it. So with that, here are this year's winners.
“The Substance” dominated the 2024 awards by the Indiana Film Journalists Association (IFJA), earning Best Film, Best Director and both Lead and Supporting performances for Demi Moore and Margaret Qualley, respectively.
A haunting mixture of social satire, cautionary science fiction and body horror, the film also took the prizes for Best Editing and Best Special Effects for a total of six wins.
“The Brutalist,” an ambitious tale of a post-WWII Jewish immigrant struggling to embrace the American Dream, was named runner-up in multiple categories including Best Film, Director, Editing, Cinematography and both Lead and Supporting Performances. It won the awards for Best Original Screenplay and Best Musical Score.
Eight other films were voted Finalists for Best Film. Along with the winner and runner-up, they represent the IFJA’s selection as the Top 10 movies of the year.
“Mars Express” won both Best Foreign Language Film and Best Animated Film in a rare category crossover. “Daughters” was named Best Documentary and “Nosferatu” earned the prize for Cinematography.
Writer/director/star Vera Drew earned the Breakout of the Year Award for “The People’s Joker.” The Original Vision award for a film that is especially innovative went to “Hundreds of Beavers.”
“Nickel Boys” won Adapted Screenplay, Best Ensemble Acting went to “His Three Daughters” and Lupita Nyong’o took the prize for Best Vocal/Motion Capture Performance for “The Wild Robot.”
The Edward Johnson-Ott Hoosier Award, which goes to a film or filmmaker with Indiana ties, went to Michael Husain for writing and directing the documentary “The Waiting Game” about American Basketball Association players’ long fight for recognition from the NBA.
IFJA members issued this statement for the Edward Johnson-Ott Hoosier Award:
“‘The Waiting Game’ chronicles the David vs Goliath story of the fight to get former ABA players honored by the NBA after blazing a path for a more uptempo, exciting version of the game that today’s league has fully embraced without giving due credit. Filmmaker Michael Husain’s keen and objective eye follows the herculean effort by lawyers, players and fans to right a historic wrong. The roots of the saga run through Indiana, and Husain creates a clear and compelling portrait of those who finally prevailed in the most important contest of all.”
In addition to the winner, IFJA recognizes a runner-up in each category (with one exception, noted below). Here is the complete list:
Best Picture
Winner: The Substance
Runner-up: The Brutalist
Other Best Film Finalists: (listed alphabetically)
Civil War
Conclave
A Different Man
I Saw the TV Glow
Mars Express
Nickel Boys
A Real Pain
Sing Sing
Best Animated Film
Winner: Mars Express
Runner-up: The Wild Robot
Best Foreign Language Film
Winner: Mars Express
Runner-up: Aattam
Best Documentary Film
Winner: Daughters
Runner-up: No Other Land
Best Original Screenplay
Winner: Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold, The Brutalist
Runner-up: Coralie Fargeat, The Substance
Best Adapted Screenplay
Winner: RaMell Ross and Joslyn Barnes, Nickel Boys
Runner-up: Peter Straughan, Conclave
Best Director
Winner: Coralie Fargeat, The Substance
Runner-up: Brady Corbet, The Brutalist
Best Lead Performance
Winner: Demi Moore, The Substance
Runner-up: Adrien Brody, The Brutalist
Best Supporting Performance
Winner: Margaret Qualley, The Substance
Runner-up: Guy Pearce, The Brutalist
Best Vocal/Motion Capture Performance
Winner: Lupita Nyong’o, The Wild Robot
Runner-up: Jonno Davies (motion-capture) and Robbie Williams (voice), Better Man
Best Ensemble Acting
Winner: His Three Daughters
Runner-up: Sing Sing
Best Musical Score
Winner: Daniel Blumberg, The Brutalist
Runner-up: Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, Challengers
Breakout of the Year
Winner: Vera Drew (director / co-writer / editor / performer), The People’s Joker
Runner-up: Mikey Madison, Anora
Best Cinematography
Winner: Jarin Blaschke, Nosferatu
Runner-up: Lol Crawley, The Brutalist
Best Editing
Winner: Jérôme Eltabet, Coralie Fargeat and Valentin Feron, The Substance
Runner-up: Dávid Jancsó, The Brutalist
Best Stunt/Movement Choreography
Winner: Guy Norris (action designer / supervising stunt coordinator / second-unit director), Tim Wong (stunt coordinator), Harland Norris (assistant stunt coordinator), Karl Van Moorsel (sequence coordinator) and Michael Roughan (stunt rigging coordinator), Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
Runner-up: Runner-Up: Ashley Wallen (dance choreographer), Nicholas Daines (stunt coordinator), Slavisa Ivanovic (stunt coordinator), Tim Wong (fight choreographer) and Spencer Susser (second-unit director), Better Man
Best Special Effects
Winner: Bryan Jones (visual effects supervisor), Pierre Procoudine-Gorsky (visual effects producer) and Jean Miel (special effects supervisor), The Substance
Runner-up: Mike Cheslik (visual effects) and Jerry Kurek (assistant effects artist), Hundreds of Beavers
Original Vision Award
Winner: Hundreds of Beavers
Runner-up: The Substance
The Edward Johnson-Ott Hoosier Award*
Michael Husain (writer / director), The Waiting Game
*As a special honor, no runner-up is named for the Hoosier Award. It is named after founding IFJA member and longtime NUVO Newsweekly critic Edward Johnson-Ott.
Established in 2009 by a dedicated group of Indiana journalists, the Indiana Film Journalists Association (IFJA) endeavors to promote quality film criticism in the Hoosier state and support Indiana’s growing film industry.
For more information, visit http://indianafilmjournalists.com.
