Finishing their eighth year as a recognized awards-voting body and haven for film critics of diverse backgrounds and talents, the Chicago Indie Critics have announced the 2023 winners of their Windie Awards. The voting film critic members completed their final 25-category ballots this past week. The Chicago Indie Critics presented their 2023 Windie Award winners on the evening of January 20, 2024 at a private invitation-only Awards Party at Chicago Filmmakers on Hollywood Avenue in Chicago.

Leading all nominated films with seven total Windie Award wins is Oppenheimer, the dominant summer blockbuster directed by Christopher Nolan and released by Universal Pictures. Nolan himself was named for three awards: Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director, and a producer on Best Studio Film. Oppenheimer also earned Windie Awards for Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Ensemble, and Best Supporting Actor for Robert Downey Jr.. Joining him in the acting categories, Paul Giamatti of The Holdovers and Emma Stone of Poor Things won lead acting awards while Da’Vine Joy Randolph won Best Supporting Actor for The Holdovers. 

The next winningest films at the Windie Awards were three wins each for Past Lives, Poor Things, and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. The former earned Best Indie Film, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Breakout Artist for its writer-director Celine Song. The latter was bestowed the Windie Awards for Best Animated Feature, Best Original Score, and Best Sight Unseen Performance for Oscar Isaac. In other top categories, The Zone of Interest was named the Best Foreign Film and Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie was declared the Best Documentary of the year.

In a special category of local recognition, the Chicago Indie Critics annually presents The Impact Award. The distinction celebrates a group or person whose work during the past year or beyond had a positive influence on the Chicagoland film community. This year’s Impact Award winner is Dennis Scott, the beloved organist at Chicago’s famed Music Box Theatre. Mr. Scott was graciously present at Chicago Filmmakers to receive the Impact Award in person. The proud voting body of the Chicago Indie Critics congratulates Mr. Scott and all of the Windie Award winners.

2023 WINDIE AWARD WINNERS:

BEST INDEPENDENT FILM

Past Lives

Producers: Christine Vachon, Pamela Koffler, and David Hinojosa

BEST STUDIO FILM

Oppenheimer

Producers: Christopher Nolan, Charles Roven, and Emma Thomas

BEST FOREIGN FILM

The Zone of Interest

Producers: James Wilson and Ewa Puszczyńska

BEST DOCUMENTARY

Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie

Producers: Davis Guggenheim, Annetta Marion, Jonathan King, and Will Cohen

BEST ANIMATED FILM

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Producers: Phil Lord, Chris Miller, Avi Arad, Amy Pascal, and Christina Steinberg

BEST DIRECTOR

Christopher Nolan, Oppenheimer 

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

Past Lives - Celine Song

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

Oppenheimer - Christopher Nolan

BEST ACTOR

Paul Giamatti, The Holdovers

BEST ACTRESS

Emma Stone, Poor Things

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

Robert Downey Jr., Oppenheimer

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Da’Vine Joy Randolph, The Holdovers

BEST ENSEMBLE

Oppenheimer

Casting director: John Papsidera

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Oppenheimer - Hoyte van Hoytema

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

Barbie - Sarah Greenwood and Katie Spencer

BEST COSTUMES

Poor Things - Holly Waddington

BEST MAKEUP

Poor Things - Nadia Stacey, Mark Coulier, and Josh Weston

BEST EDITING

Oppenheimer - Jennifer Lame

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse - Daniel Pemberton

BEST ORIGINAL SONG

“I’m Just Ken” - Barbie

Written by Mark Ronson and Andrew Wyatt

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS

Godzilla Minus One - Kiyoko Shibuya and Takashi Yamazaki

BEST STUNTS

John Wick: Chapter 4 - Stephen Dunleavy, Scott Rogers, and Jeremy Marinas

BREAKOUT ARTIST

Celine Song

SIGHT UNSEEN PERFORMANCE

Oscar Isaac, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

IMPACT AWARD

Local award given to individuals who have made a positive impact on Chicago cinema

Dennis Scott - Music Box Theatre organist