Independent Spirit Award Nominations Announced

It’s always exciting when the ISA  nominations are released.  Among other things, the announcement officials opens awards season.  Whether you care about awards or not, this is the time of year that gets more people talking about film, writing about film and seeing films, and that can’t be bad.  You can catch all of the information on the Independent Spirit Awards at  SpiritAwards.com   Here are some of this years nominees.

BEST FEATURE:

• The Descendants:  From Alexander Payne, the creator of the Oscar®-winning Sideways, The Descendants is set in Hawaii and follows the unpredictable journey of an American family at a crossroads.
• The Artist: Michel Hazanavicius’s The Artist is a heartfelt and entertaining valentine to classic American cinema. Set during the twilight of Hollywood’s silent era and shot on location in Los Angeles, The Artist tells the story of a charismatic movie star unhappily confronting the new world of talking pictures. Stars Jean Dujardin, Bérénice Bejo and John Goodman.
• Take Shelter:  Plagued by a series of apocalyptic visions, a young husband and father questions whether to shelter his family from a coming storm, or from himself.  Jeff Nichols directs.  Michael Shannon, Jessica Chastain, and Shea Wigham star.
• Drive:  From director Nicolas Winding Reft, Drive follows a Hollywood stunt performer who moonlights as a wheelman discovers that a contract has been put on him after a heist gone wrong. Stars Ryan Gosling, Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston and Albert Brooks.
• Beginners:  When it comes to relationships, we’re all beginners. From writer/director Mike Mills comes Beginners, a comedy/drama about how deeply funny and transformative life can be, even at its most serious moments. Starring Ewan McGregor, Christopher Plummer and Melanie Laurant.
• 50/50:  A young man turns a devastating illness into a unique opportunity to experience life in 50/50, a funny, touching and original story about friendship, love and survival starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Seth Rogen.

Best Director:

• Michel Hazanavicius, The Artist
• Jeff Nichols, Take Shelter
• Nicolas Winding Reft, Drive
• Alexander Payne, The Descendants
  
• Mike Mills, Beginners

Best First Feature

• In the Family
• Natural Selection
• Martha Marcy May Marlene
• Margin Call
• Another Earth

John Cassavetes Award

• Bellflower
• Circumstance
• Hello Lonesome
• Pariah
• The Dynamiter

Best Screenplay

• Tom McCarthy, Win Win
• Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon and Jim Rash, The Descendants
• Michael Hazanavicius, The Artist
• Joseph Cedar, Footnote
• Mike Mills, Beginners

Best Female Lead

• Elizabeth Olsen, Martha Marcy May Marlene
• Michelle Williams, My Week With Marilyn
• Lauren Ambrose, Think of Me
• Rachel Harris, Natural Selection
• Adepero Oduye, Pariah

    

Best Male Lead

• Demian Bechir, A Better Life
• Jean Dujardin, The Artist
• Michael Shannon, Take Shelter
• Ryan Gosling, Drive
• Woody Harrelson, Rampart

    

Best Supporting Female

• Shailene Woodley, The Descendants
• Jessica Chastain, Take Shelter
• Janet McTeer, Albert Nobbs
• Harmony Santana, Gun Hill Road
• Anjelica Huston, 50/50

Best Supporting Male

• Albert Brooks, Drive
• Christopher Plummer, Beginners
• Corey Stoll, Midnight in Paris
• John C. Riley, Cedar Rapids
• John Hawkes, Martha Marcy May Marlene

Best Documentary

• We Were Here, David Weissman
• The Redemption of General Butt Naked, Eric Strauss and Daniele Anastasion
• The Interrupters, Steve James and Alex Kotlowitz
• Bill Cunningham New York, Richard Press and Philip Gefter
• An African Election, Jarreth Merz

  

Best Cinematography

• Joel Hodge, Bellflower
• Jeffrey Waldon, The Dynamiter
• Guillarme Schiffman, The Artist
• Darius Khondji, Midnight in Paris
• Benjamin Kasulke, The Off Hours

Other Awards include Best First Screenplay, the Robert Altman Award, the Piaget Producers Award, Someone to Watch Award, Truer Than Fiction Award, and the Best International Film Award.  Visit SpiritAwards.com to read more about those nominees.