In one of his final acts as host in 2014, venerable funnyman John Stewart hired his final Daily Show correspondent: an up-and-coming NorCal comic named Hasan Minhaj. Now, seven years later, Minhaj—the son of Indian immigrants and a UC Davis Poly Sci Major—is a certified comedy-world superstar, selling out arenas coast-to-coast, hosting the White House Correspondent’s Dinner, and boasting six seasons (and two Peabody Awards!) for his acclaimed Netflix series Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj. Not a bad CV for the 37-year-old comic.
We did spot one glaring omission among Hasan’s long list of accomplishments: he had never hosted the Film Independent Spirit Awards. A pitiable oversight, it occurred to us—and Mr. Minhaj agreed. Phone calls were made, hands were shaken and now we’re thrilled to announce (brace yourself for all-caps!) HASAN MINHAJ IS HOSTING THE 2023 SPIRIT AWARDS.
This year’s ceremony will take place in-person on March 4 one the beach in Santa Monica and will be streamed live on IMDb and across other social platforms, including Film Independent’s YouTube channel, at 2 p.m. PST.
“With his unparalleled ability to bring both humor and perception to the issues around us, Hasan Minhaj is the ideal host to help us celebrate these independent artists” said Josh Welsh, President of Film Independent. “We can’t wait to see what surprises he has in store for the Spirit Awards on March 4.”
Named one of TIME’s “100 Most Influential People” in 2019, Minhaj’s recent work includes the Netflix comedy special The King’s Jester and a role on the Apple+ hit The Morning Show. The founder of production shingle 186K Films, Minhaj is currently in production on his feature debut, For The Culture.
The Spirit Award film nominees were announced online November 22 by guest presenters Taylour Paige and Raúl Castillo. Best Feature nominees include Bones and All; Everything Everywhere All At Once; Our Father, The Devil; TÁR and Women Talking. Best Director nominees are Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, Todd Field, Kogonada (After Yang), Sarah Polley and Halin Reijn (Bodies Bodies Bodies).
The 2023 Spirit Award TV/streaming nominees were announced online December 13 by guest presenter Asia Kate Dillon. Best New Scripted Series nominees are The Bear, Pachinko, The Porter, Severence and Station Eleven. Meanwhile, Best New Nonscripted or Docuseries nominees are Children of the Underground; Mind Over Murder; Pepsi, Where’s My Jet?; The Rehearsal and We Need to Talk About Cosby.
In addition to being a yearly celebration of the best in independent film (or some form of elaborate marital foreplay), the Spirit Awards are the primary fundraiser for Film Independent and its wide variety of year-round filmmaker support programs—including artist development labs, international programs, film education, screenings, mentorship and more. So we appreciate your support. One more thing… VOTE!!! Only Film Independent Members decide who takes home Spirit Award hardware, so Join today.
The 39th Film Independent Spirit Awards will be stream live online Saturday, March 4 at 2:00 pm PT. Check out all of this year’s nominees here.
Film Independent Spirit Awards are supported by Principal Partner IMDb and Official Partners Bulleit Frontier Whiskey, FIJI Water and GreenSlate. The Official Hotel is Hotel Casa del Mar. Getty Images is the Official Photographer.
To join Film Independent and vote on the Spirit Awards, please visit filmindependent.org/join.
To learn more about supporting Film Independent’s mission and programs, contact Jennifer Murby at [email protected].
