The Substance was the big winner of the 2024 Indiana Film Journalists Association (IFJA) awards, receiving a whopping six wins including Best Film, Best Director for Coralie Fargeat, Lead performance for Demi Moore and Supporting performance for Margaret Qualley.
Mars Express won Best Foreign Language Film along with Best Animated film; and Daughters was named Best Documentary.
Other honors including Breakout of the Year Award went to director / co-writer / star Vera Drew for The People’s Joker; Hundreds of Beavers won the Original Vision Award for a film that is especially innovative; and Best Ensemble Acting went to His Three Daughters.
The Edward Johnson-Ott Hoosier Award, which goes to a film, filmmaker or performer 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 National Basketball Association.
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.”
Indiana Critic Awards 2024 Winners and Runner-up Films
BEST FILM
The Substance
Runner-Up: The Brutalist
Other Finalists
(listed alphabetically)
Civil War (2024)
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
Winner: Daughters (2024)
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, Better Man (2024)
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 (performer), Anora
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Winner: Jarin Blaschke, Nosferatu (2024)
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 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
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: Ashley Wallen (dance choreographer), Nicholas Daines (stunt coordinator), Slavisa Ivanovic (stunt coordinator), Tim Wong (fight choreographer) and Spencer Susser (second-unit director), Better Man (2024)
ORIGINAL VISION
Winner: Hundreds of Beavers
Runner-Up: The Substance
EDWARD JOHNSON-OTT HOOSIER AWARD
Winner: Michael Husain, The Waiting Game
(As a special honor named after IFJA founding member and longtime NUVO Newsweekly critic Edward Johnson-Ott, no runner-up is named in this category.)