With the Gotham Awards having taken place last night, awards season is now in full swing, and will stay that way until the Oscars air this February. For those who prefer their awards ceremonies a bit more laid-back than the evening gown- and tuxedo-filled affair that comes to the Kodak Theater annually, there’s the Film Independent Spirit Awards, which honors the best in independent moviemaking. The 27th annual Spirit Awards ceremony, which will be held in a tent on the beach in Santa Monica, California, doesn’t take place until February 25th—but luckily for those of you who can’t get enough awards season coverage, the nominees were announced today.
This year’s nominees, states Film Independent’s senior director Sean McManus, “tell their stories in such an authentic way and reflect the inclusive nature of the independent filmmaking community. We are delighted to support them and expand the audience for their work.”
Among the films to be nominated are The Artist and Take Shelter; the indie favorites received five nominations each and will go head-to-head in the Best Feature, Best Director and Best Actor categories. The recipient of the 2012 Robert Altman Award, given each year to a film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast, is J.C. Chandor’s Margin Call, which was also nominated in the Best First Feature and Best First Screenplay categories.
A complete list of nominees is below; the awards ceremony will air on the Independent Film Channel (IFC) on the evening of February 25th, 2012. For more information, visit www.filmindependent.org.
Best Feature
The Artist
?Beginners
?The Descendants
?Drive
?50/50
?Take Shelter
Best Director
?Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist?
Mike Mills, Beginners?
Jeff Nichols, Take Shelter?
Alexander Payne, The Descendants?
Nicolas Winding Refn, Drive
Best Screenplay?
Joseph Cedar, Footnote
?Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
?Thomas McCarthy, Win Win?
Mike Mills, Beginners?
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, The Descendants
Best First Feature?
Another Earth?
In the Family
?Margin Call
?Martha Marcy May Marlene
?Natural Selection
Best First Screenplay
?Mike Cahill and Brit Marling, Another Earth
?J.C. Chandor, Margin Call?
Patrick Dewitt, Terri?
Phil Johnston, Cedar Rapids
?Will Reiser, 50/50
John Cassavetes Award
(Given to the best feature made for under $500,000)
Bellflower?
Circumstance
?Hello Lonesome
?Pariah
?The Dynamiter
Best Female Lead
?Lauren Ambrose, Think of Me
?Rachael Harris, Natural Selection?
Adepero Oduye, Pariah?
Elizabeth Olsen, Martha Marcy May Marlene
?Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn
Best Male Lead
?Demián Bichir, A Better Life?
Jean Dujardin, The Artist?
Ryan Gosling, Drive?
Woody Harrelson, Rampart
?Michael Shannon, Take Shelter
Best Supporting Female
?Jessica Chastain, Take Shelter
?Anjelica Huston, 50/50?
Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs?
Harmony Santana, Gun Hill Road?
Shailene Woodley, The Descendants
Best Supporting Male?
Albert Brooks, Drive?
John Hawkes, Martha Marcy May Marlene?
Christopher Plummer, Beginners?
John C. Reilly, Cedar Rapids
?Corey Stoll, Midnight in Paris
Best Cinematography
?Joel Hodge, Bellflower
?Benjamin Kasulke, The Off Hours
?Darius Khondji, Midnight in Paris?
Guillaume Schiffman, The Artist
?Jeffrey Waldron, The Dynamiter
Best Documentary
?An African Election
?Bill Cunningham New York?
The Interrupters
?The Redemption of General Butt Naked
?We Were Here
Best International Film
?A Separation
?Melancholia?
Shame
?The Kid with a Bike?
Tyrannosaur
Piaget Producers Award
?Chad Burris, Mosquita y Mari?
Sophia Lin, Take Shelter?
Josh Mond, Martha Marcy May Marlene
Someone to Watch Award
?Simon Arthur, Silver Tongues
?Mark Jackson, Without
?Nicholas Ozeki, Mamitas
Truer Than Fiction Award
?Heather Courtney, Where Soldiers Come From?
Danfung Dennis, Hell and Back Again?
Alma Har’El, Bombay Beach
Robert Altman Award
Margin Call