2014 Film Independent Spirit Awards Nominees Announced!

We're so close to December already.  You know what that means! It's start of awards season with all the critics, guilds et al. announcing their best of the year. To kick of the indies, the 2014 Film Independent Spirit Awards announced their nominees today and 12 Years A Slave, Nebraska and All is Lost have already made an impressive showing here. Patton Oswalt will host the awards being held on March 1, 2014, as usual a day before the prestigious Oscars are announced. It's a long wait. Hold on!

(Source: Film Independent)

Here's a list of the major awards being presented: 

Best Feature
12 Years A Slave
All is Lost
Frances Ha
Inside Llewyn Davis
Nebraska

Best Director
Shane Carruth - Upstream Color
J.C. Candor - All is Lost
Steve McQueen - 12 Years A Slave
Jeff Nichols - Mud
Alexander Payne - Nebraska

Best Male Lead
Bruce Dern - Nebraska
Chiwetel Ejiofor - 12 Years A Slave
Oscar Isaac - Inside Llewyn Davis
Michael B. Jordan - Fruitvale Station
Matthew McConaughey - Dallas Buyers Club
Robert Redford - All is Lost

Best Female Lead
Cate Blanchett - Blue Jasmine
Julie Delpy - Before Midnight
Gaby Hoffman - Crystal Fairy
Brie Larson - Short Term 12
Shailene Woodley - The Spectacular Now

Best Supporting Male
Michael Fassbender - 12 Years A Slave
Will Forte - 12 Years A Slave
James Gandolfini - Enough Said
Jared Leto - Dallas Buyers Club
Keith Sanfield - Short Term 12

Best Supporting Female 
Melonie Diaz - Fruitvale Station
Sally Hawkins - Blue Jasmine
Lupita Nyong'o - 12 Years A Slave
Yolanda Ross - Go For Sisters
June Squibb - Nebraska


Best Screenplay
Woody Allen - Blue Jasmine
Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke & Richard Linklater - Before Midnight
Nicole Holofcener - Enough Said
Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber - The Spectacular Now
John Ridley - 12 Years A Slave

Best First Feature (Award given to the director and producer)
Blue Caprice
Concussion
Fruitvale Station
Una Noche
Wadjda

Best First Screenplay
Lake Bell - In a World
Joseph Gordon-Levitt - Don Jon
Bob Nelson - Nebraska
Jill Soloway - Afternoon Delight
Michael Starrbury - The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete

John Cassavetes Award - Given to the best feature made under for under $50,000. Award given to the director, writer and producer.
Computer Chess
Crystal Fairy
Museum Hours
Pit Stop
This is Martin Bomer

Best Cinematography
Sean Bobbitt - 12 Years A Slave
Benoit Debie - Spring Breakers
Bruno Delbonnel - Inside Llewyn Davis
Frank G. DeMarco - All is Lost
Matthias Grunsky - Computer Chess

Best Editing
Shane Carruth & David Loweryn - Upstream Color
Jem Cohen & Marc Vives - Museum Hours
Jennifer Lame - Frances Ha
Cindy Lee - Una Noche
Nat Sanders - Short Term 12

Best Documentary
20 Feet from Stardom
After Tiller
Gideon's Army
The Act of Killing
The Square

Best International Film
A Touch of Sin (China)
Blue is the Warmest Color (France)
Gloria (Chile)
The Great Beauty (Italy)
The Hunt (Denmark)

2012 Independent Spirit Award Nominations Announced

Let the nominations begin! The 28th Film Independent Spirit Awards nominations got announced yesterday and there are a few recognizable names on the list like Wes Anderson and David O. Russell as both their movies got a few nominations in different categories.  And some big little films like Beasts of the Southern Wild and Middle of Nowhere feature prominently with four nominations apiece.  The awards will be announced, as usual, the day before the Oscars on February 23, 2012.

Best Feature
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Bernie
Keep The Lights On
Moonrise Kingdom
Silver Linings Playbook

Best Director
Benh Zeitlin - Beasts of the Southern Wild
Julia Loktev - The Loneliest Planet
Ira Sachs - Keep The Lights On
Wes Anderson - Moonrise Kingdom
David O. Russell - Silver Linings Playbook

Best Female Lead
Emayatzy Corinealdi - Middle of Nowhere
Linda Cardellini - Return
Mary Elizabeth Winstead - Smashed
Jennifer Lawrence - Silver Linings Playbook
Quvenzhane Wallis - Beasts of the Southern Wild

Best Male Lead
Bradley Cooper - Silver Linings Playbook
Jack Black - Bernie
John Hawkes - The Sessions
Thure Lindhardt - Keep The Lights On
Matthew McConaughey - Killer Joe
Wendell Pierce - Four

Best Supporting Female
Ann Dowd - Compliance
Brit Marling - Sound of My Voice
Helen Hunt - The Sessions
Lorraine Toussaint - Middle of Nowhere
Rosemary Dewitt - My Sister's Sister

Best Supporting Male
Sam Rockwell - Seven Psychopaths
Michael Pena - End of Watch
Bruce Willis - Moonrise Kingdom
David Oyelowo - Middle of Nowhere
Matthew McConaughey - Magic Mike

Best Screenplay
Ira Sachs & Mauricio Zacharias - Keep The Lights On
Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola -  Moonrise Kingdom
David O. Russell - Silver Linings Playbook
Zoe Kazan - Ruby Sparks
Martin McDonagh - Seven Psychopaths

Best First Feature
Sound of My Voice
Safety Not Guaranteed
Fill the Void
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Gimme the Loot

Best First Screenplay
Rama Burshtein - Fill the Void
Rashida Jone & Will McCormack - Celeste and Jesse Forever
Jonathan Lisecki - Gayby
Derek Connolly - Safety Not Guaranteed
Christopher Ford  - Robot & Frank

Best Documentary
How to Survive a Plague
Marina Abromovic The Artist is Present
The Central Park Five
The Invisible War
The Waiting Room

Best Cinematography
Yoni Brook - Valley of Saints
Ben Richardson - Beasts of the Southern Wild
Lol Crawley - Here
Robert Yeoman - Moonrise Kingdom
Roman Vasyanov - End of Watch 

Best International Film
Amour (France)
Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (Turkey)
Rust and Bone (France/Belgium)
Sister (Switzerland)
War Witch (DR Congo)

John Cassavetes Award (Award given to the writer, director and producers of a feature made for under $500,000)
Breakfast with Curtis
Middle of Nowhere
Mosquita y Mari
Starlet
The Color Wheel

Robert Altman Award (Given to one film's director, casting director, and its ensemble cast)
Starlet

Filmmaker Grants

Someone to Watch Awards
Adam Leon - Gimme the Loot
David Fenster - Pincus
Rebecca Thomas - Electrik Children

Stella Artois Truer Than Fiction Award
Peter Nicks - The Waiting Room
Lucien Castaing-Taylor & Verena Paravel - Leviathan
Jason Tippet & Elizabeth Mims - Only the Young

Piaget Producers Award
Alicia Van Couvering
Mynette Louie
Derrick Tseng 

The Independent Spirit Awards Winners

Wow, The Artist is really on a roll, winning another set of awards heading into the Oscars.  By the way, I thought these were supposed to be the "Independent" awards.  Most of these film winners seem rather mainstream.

Best Feature
The Artist

Best Director
Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist

Best Screenplay
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon & Jim Rash, The Descendants

Best Male Lead
Jean Dujardin, The Artist

Best Supporting Male
Christopher Plummer, Beginners

Best Female Lead
Michelle Williams, My Week with Marilyn

Best Supporting Female
Shailene Woodley, The Descendants

Best Cinematography
Guillaume Schiffman, The Artist

Robert Altman Award 
Margin Call

Best First Screenplay
Will Reiser, 50/50

Best First Feature
Margin Call

Best Documentary
The Interrupters

Best International Feature
A Separation

John Cassavetes Award (best feature made for under $500,000)
Pariah

Piaget Producers Award
Sophia Lin, Take Shelter

Someone to Watch Award
Mark Jackson, Without

Truer than Fiction Award
Heather Courtney, Where Soldiers Come From

The 26th Independent Spirit Awards announced!

I can't believe it.  It seemed like yesterday that I was excited about the start of awards season and here we are at the very end.  Today is the turn of the anti-Oscars, The Independent Spirit Awards which honors the best of independent and small films that normally don't get noticed by Oscars.  There are few names that you will find on the Oscar ballot too.  In recent years, there are many names that are beginning to overlap.  Now, onto the winners!

(Pics: Thanks to Just Jared/Indiewire)

BEST FEATURE (Award given to the Producer)
Black Swan

BEST DIRECTOR
Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan

BEST FIRST FEATURE (Award given to the director and producer)
Get Low

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD
(Given to the best feature made for under $500,000; award given to the writer, director, and producer)
Daddy Longlegs

BEST SCREENPLAY
Stuart Blumberg, Lisa Cholodenko, The Kids Are All Right

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Lena Dunham, Tiny Furniture

BEST FEMALE LEAD
Natalie Portman, Black Swan

BEST MALE LEAD
James Franco, 127 Hours

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
Dale Dickey, Winter’s Bone

BEST SUPPORTING MALE
John Hawkes, Winter’s Bone

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Matthew Libatique, Black Swan

BEST DOCUMENTARY (Award given to the director)
Exit Through The Gift Shop

BEST FOREIGN FILM (Award given to the director)
The King’s Speech

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD
(Given to one film’s director, casting director, and its ensemble cast)
Please Give
Director: Nicole Holofcener
Casting Director: Jeanne McCarthy
Ensemble Cast: Ann Guilbert, Rebecca Hall, Catherine Keener, Amanda Peet, Oliver Platt, Lois Smith, Sara Steele

PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD
Anish Savjani, Meek’s Cutoff

SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD
Mike Ott, Littlerock

TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD
Jeff Malmberg, Marwencol
 

2011 Spirit Awards Nominees Announced

Here we go! Awards season is officially on.  Big Oscar announcement yesterday and today the anti-Oscars and the haven for independent movies, the 26th Spirit Awards released its nominees for 2011.

BEST FEATURE (Award given to the Producer)
127 Hours
Black Swan
Greenberg
The Kids Are All Right
Winter’s Bone

BEST DIRECTOR
Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
Danny Boyle, 127 Hours
Lisa Cholodenko, The Kids Are All Right
Debra Granik, Winter’s Bone
John Cameron Mitchell, Rabbit Hole

Rest of the 2011 nominees under the cut