'Fire Island's Joel Kim Booster Got His 1st Spirit Award Nomination

Joel Kim Booster is getting his much-deserved flowers!

The comedian, writer, and actor is nominated in the Best First Screenplay category of the Independent Spirit Awards for his screenplay for Fire Island, marking his first nomination for the awards.

Booster’s screenplay for Fire Island will go up against Bodies Bodies Bodies, Emergency, Emily the Criminal, and Palm Trees and Power Lines.

"Not me nominated for an Indie Spirit…!!!" Booster tweeted, followed by another tweet that read, "It’s going to be a pleasure losing to Bodies Bodies Bodies."

"I think for me it was just about realism," Booster told Out about writing the screenplay. "I think that so often we see just one dimension of a character, specifically a gay character and especially with Asian characters. We get trapped in these boxes so easily, and I think that I saw this as an opportunity not only to showcase a character like Noah, but also contrasting him with someone like Bowen, which is based somewhat on our real relationship, on our real friendship."

Other queer nominees include Aubrey Plaza and Jeremy Pope in the Best Lead Performance category for their roles in Emily the Criminal and The Inspection, respectively.

Cate Blanchett and Michelle Yeoh are also nominated for starring in queer-inclusive movies Tár and Everything Everywhere All At Once. Everything Everywhere All At Once led all movies with eight nominations.

This is Plaza’s first acting nomination at the Independent Spirit awards, but she’s previously been nominated as a producer on Best First Feature for Ingrid Goes West in 2017. She also hosted the awards in 2019-2020. This is Pope’s first nomination.

The Spirits will take place on March 4, but there is no broadcast partner for the awards this year, and information on how to stream the awards will be released later.

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