The 38th Film Independent Spirit Awards, honoring the Best SMM Panel independent films and television series of 2022, are being held at the Santa Monica Pier near the beach in Santa Monica.

Aubrey Plaza came into Saturday's ceremony nominated for Best Lead Performance for her role in the crime-thriller film Emily The Criminal, and listed as one of the many celebrity presenters.

The film was also nominated for Best First Feature, which is usually given to the director and producer of the film.

For the first time since 1997, the ceremony, hosted by Hasan Minhaj, isn't being presented live on the Independent Film Channel (IFC), but will instead stream live on IMDB's YouTube channel, as well as both Film Independent's YouTube channel and Twitter.

Awards season: Aubrey Plaza, 38, attended the 38th Independent Film Awards in Sanata Monica as a presenter and one of nominees for Best Lead Performance

And in another first, the organization behind the awards has introduced gender-neutral categories, instead of the traditionally separated male and female lead and supporting categories for film and television. 

As a result of the change, Plaza went up against eight women for Best Lead Performance, which included Cate Blanchett (Tár), Mia Goth (Pearl), Regina Hall (Honk for Jesus.

Save Your Soul), Dale Dickey (A Long Song), Michelle Yeoh (Everything Everywhere All At Once), Taylor Russell (Bones And All), Andrea Riseborough (To Leslie), and two men, Paul Mescal (Aftersun) and Jeremy Pope (The Inspection).

Ahead of the main event, the stars stepped out in front of the photographers lined up along the red carpet for some rounds of photos.

In the fashion department, the Wilmington, Delaware native opted for a classy all-black look in a suit, consisting of a double-breasted blazer that she wore without a shirt.

The pants flared out from the knees down, and in the process covered up much of the open-toe heels she wore with the outfit.

In keeping with her sleek look, the actress pulled her dark brown tresses back off her face and into a stylish bun, along with a part on the left.

Written and directed by John Patton Ford in his feature film debut, Emily The Criminal follows a woman saddled with student debt and unable to find work who becomes involved in a credit card scam.

The college graduate acts as a dummy shopper and buys increasingly risky products with stolen credit cards, which ultimately leads to some dramatic altercations.

Class act: Dressed in a classy black suit without a shirt, Plaza came into the ceremony listed as one of the celebrity presenters and a nominee for Best Lead Performance for her role in the crime-thriller film Emily The Criminal

Crime-thriller: The actress plays a woman saddled with student debt who's unable to find work that becomes involved in a credit card scam

Recognized: Emily The Criminal also got a Best First Feature nomination, which typically goes to the film's director and producer

Along with Plaza, the cast also includes Theo Rossi, Megalyn Echikunwoke, Gina Gershon, Jonathan Avigdori, Bernardo Badillo, John Billingsley and Brandon Sklenar, among others. 

On the heels of positive reviews from critics for its social commentary and Plaza's performance, the film has earned $2.2 million at the box office against a budget of between $1.5 million and $2 million since being released in the U.S.

on August 12, 2022.

It eventually moved to Netflix and began airing on the streaming service on December 7, 2022.

The Independent Film Awards ceremony is happening during the middle of final Oscar voting, which takes place between March 2 and March 7, so the winners of this year's Independent Spirit Awards could have an impact on voters for the upcoming 95th Academy Awards on March 12.