The Spirit Awards organizers are assuring us that this year’s ceremony will maintain its casual atmosphere but with a few changes. The festivities, airing live and uncut on March 5, 2010, move to the L.A. Live Campus in downtown and will air at a hipper time slot—Friday evening at 11 p.m. EST instead of Saturday afternoon. The nominees, chosen from a field of 240 films, were announced December 1st by Matt Dillon and Taraji P. Henson.
And the nominees are…
Best Feature
(500) Days of Summer
Sin Nombre
Precious
The Last Station
Amreeka
Best Director
James Gray for Two Lovers
Michael Hoffman for The Last Station
Lee Daniels for Precious
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen for A Serious Man
Cary Joji Fukunaga for Sin Nombre
Best First Feature
The Messenger
Easier With Practice
Paranormal Activity
Crazy Heart
A Single Man
John Cassavetes Award
Zero Bridge
Treeless Mountain
The New Year Parade
Humpday
Big Fan
Best Screenplay
Lee Toland Krieger for The Vicious Kind
Alessandro Camon and Oren Moverman for The Messenger
Michael Hoffman for The Last Station
Greg Mottola for Adventureland
Scott Neustrader and Michael H. Weber for (500) Days of Summer
Best First Screenplay
Geoffrey Fletcher for Precious
Scott Cooper for Crazy Heart
Sophie Barthes for Cold Souls
Cherien Dabis for Amreeka
Tom Ford and David Scearce for A Single Man
Best Female Lead
Gwenyth Paltrow in Two Lovers
Helen Mirren in The Last Station
Gabourey Sidibe in Precious
Maria Bello in Downloading Nancy
Nisreen Faour in Amreeka
Best Male Lead
Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart
Souleymane Sy Savane in Goodbye Solo
Colin Firth in A Single Man
Adam Scott in The Vicious Kind
Joseph Gordon-Levitt in (500) Days of Summer
Best Supporting Female
Samantha Morton in The Messenger
Natalie Press in Fifty Dead Men Walking>
Dina Korzun in Cold Souls
Mia Wasikowska in That Evening Sun
Mo’Nique in Precious
Best Supporting Male
Christopher Plummer in The Last Station
Woody Harrelson in The Messenger
Raymond McKinnon in That Evening Sun
Jemain Clement in Gentlemen Broncos
Christian McKay in Me and Orson Welles
Best Foreign Film
La Nana (The Maid)
Mother
Everlasting Moments
An Education
A Prophet
Best Documentary
Which Way Home
October Country
More Than a Game
Food, Inc.
Anvil! The Story of Anvil
Best Cinematography
Adriano Goldman for Sin Nombre
Anne Misawa for Treeless Mountain
Peter Zeitlinger for Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
Andrij Parekh for Cold Souls
Roger Deakins for A Serious Man
Piaget Producers Award
Dia Sokol for Beeswax and Nights and Weekends
Larry Fessenden for I Sell the Dead and The House of the Devil
Karen Chien for The Exploding Girl and Santa Mesa
Acura Someone to Watch Award
Tariq Tapa for Zero Bridge
Kyle Patrick Alvarez for Easier With Practice
Asiel Norton for Redland
Truer than Fiction Award
Natalia Almada for El General
Jessica Oreck for Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo
Bill Ross and Turner Ross for 45365