The Film Independent Spirit Awards, which celebrate low budget and innovative indie filmmaking, are handed out each year the day before the Oscars, in this case ladling out the gongs on February 23 next year. And this year’s nominations have been announced, with Silver Linings Playbook and Moonrise Kingdom leading the field.
Though it’s intriguing to see the likes of Silver Linings Playbook (which tied with Moonrise Kingdom for the most nominations) up against much smaller budgeted/distributed movies, we’re pleased to see such films as Smashed, End Of Watch, Amour, and **Compliance **on the list. Even Magic Mike rounded up one nod for Matthew McConaughey’s swaggery turn.
“The nominations this year represent an astonishingly strong group of artists both in front of and behind the camera,” said Film Independent Co-president Josh Welsh in a statement. “At Film Independent, we nurture artist-driven filmmaking all year long and I can’t imagine a more fitting or worthy group of films to celebrate here today.”
The full list is below.
BEST FEATURE
Beasts Of The Southern Wild
Bernie
Keep The Lights On
Moonrise Kingdom
Silver Linings Playbook
BEST DIRECTOR
Moonrise Kingdom – Wes Anderson
The Loneliest Planet - Julia Loktev
Silver Linings Playbook - David O. Russell
Keep The Lights On - Ira Sachs
Beasts Of The Southern Wild -* Benh Zeitlin*
BEST SCREENPLAY
Moonrise Kingdom - Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola
Ruby Sparks - *Zoe Kazan *
Seven Psychopaths - Martin McDonagh
Silver Linings Playbook - David O. Russell
Keep The Lights On- Ira Sachs
BEST FIRST FEATURE
Fill The Void
Gimme The Loot
Safety Not Guaranteed
Sound Of My Voice
The Perks Of Being A Wallflower
BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Fill The Void - Rama Burshtein
Safety Not Guaranteed- Derek Connolly
Robot & Frank - Christopher Ford
Celeste And Jesse Forever - Rashida Jones & Will McCormack
Gayby - Jonathan Lisecki
JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD
Breakfast With Curtis - Laura Colella
Middle Of Nowhere - Ava DuVernay, Howard Barish, Paul Garnes
Mosquita y Mari - Aurora Guerrero, Chad Burris
Starlet - Sean Baker, Blake Ashman-Kipervaser, Kevin Chinoy, Patrick Cunningham, Chris Maybach, Francesca Silvestri
The Color Wheel -* Alex Ross Perry, Carlen Altman*
BEST FEMALE LEAD
Linda Cardellini - Return
Emayatzy Corinealdi - Middle Of Nowhere
Jennifer Lawrence - S**ilver Linings Playbook
Quvenzhané Wallis - Beasts Of The Southern Wild
Mary Elizabeth Winstead - Smashed
BEST MALE LEAD
Jack Black - Bernie
Bradley Cooper - Silver Linings Playbook
John Hawkes - The Sessions
Thure Lindhardt - Keep The Lights On
Matthew McConaughey - Killer Joe
Wendell Pierce - Four
BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
Rosemarie DeWitt - Your Sister’s Sister
Ann Dowd - Compliance
Helen Hunt - The Sessions
Brit Marling - Sound Of My Voice
Lorraine Toussaint - Middle Of Nowhere
**BEST SUPPORTING MALE
**Matthew McConaughey - Magic Mike
David Oyelowo - Middle Of Nowhere
Michael Péna - End Of Watch
Sam Rockwell - Seven Psychopaths
Bruce Willis - Moonrise Kingdom
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Valley Of Saints - Yoni Brook
Here -* Lol Crawley*
Beasts Of The Southern Wild - Ben Richardson
End Of Watch - Roman Vasyanov
Moonrise Kingdom - Robert Yeoman
**
BEST DOCUMENTARY**
How to Survive a Plague
Marina Abramovic: The Artist Is Present
The Central Park Five
The Invisible War
The Waiting Room
BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
Amour
Once Upon A Time In Anatolia
Rust And Bone
Sister
War Witch