“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: 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.
Indiana Film Journalists Association 