It’s that time of year when bows of holly are hung, children scribble wish lists for Santa, and films worldwide jockey for notice as award season kicks off! Just a day after the Gotham Awards announced their winners, the 27th Film Independent’s Spirit Awards has announced their nominees.
The Spirit Awards has long aimed to pay tribute to the little films that often unfairly fail to grab Oscar notice. (It’s no coincidence that the Spirit Awards telecast is traditionally held the day before the Oscars ceremony each year.) Of course, with the Academy’s expansion to 10 Best Picture nominees, the past few years have shown an increase in the amount of crossover between the two award shows. Last year both the Academy Awards and the Spirit Awards bestowed nominations (if not awards) to Black Swan, Winter’s Bone, 127 Hours, The King’s Speech, The Kids Are All Right, Blue Valentine, Rabbit Hole, Exit Through the Gift Shop and Restrepo.
Will the Academy’s latest wishy-washy rule change affect these parallels? We’ll see in late January, but with the much-buzzed about Shame, Martha Marcy May Marlene, The Descendants and The Artist scoring nods – I think this will be another year of major indie impact at the Academy Awards.
Below is the full list of honorees, via Indiewire:
BEST FEATURE
50/50
Beginners
Drive
Take Shelter
The Artist
The Descendants
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
Tom McCarthy, Win Win
Mike Mills, Beginners
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, 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, 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 (Iran)
Melancholia (Denmark/Sweden/France/Germany)
Shame (UK)
The Kid With a Bike (Belgium/France/Italy)
Tyrannosaur (UK)
PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD
(Honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources demonstrate the creativity, tenacity, and vision required to produce quality, independent films. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Piaget.)
Chad Burris, Mosquita y Mari
Sophia Lin, Take Shelter
Josh Mond, Martha Marcy May Marlene
SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD
(Recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant.)
Simon Arthur, Silver Tongues
Mark Jackson, Without
Nicholas Ozeki, Mamitas
TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD
(Presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant.)
Heather Courtney, Where Soldiers Come From
Danfung Dennis, Hell and Back Again
Alma Har’el, Bombay Beach
ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD
Margin Call
Director: J.C. Chandor
Casting Director: Tiffany Little Canfield, Bernard Telsey
Ensemble Cast: Penn Badgley, Simon Baker, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Mary McDonnell, Demi Moore, Zachary Quinto, Kevin Spacey, Stanley Tucci
You can keep up with my own quest to see all of the 2012 Spirit-Award nominated efforts with the return of Voting Spirit, a weekly column wherein I share my impressions on each of the films with a running tally of strange similarities. From this list, it looks like it’ll be a thrilling theatrical season.
The 27th Film Independent’s Spirit Awards will air February 25th at 10PM on IFC.
What are your thoughts on the nominees?