‘Birdman’ leads the pack with 6 nominations

The nominations for the 30th Film Independent Spirit Awards have been announced, both further opening up and narrowing down the 2014 awards season. As usual, a few expected favorites made the list as well as some surprises thrown in for equal measure. Birdman, Alejandro Gonzalez Inárritu’s dark comedy topped the field with six nominations overall, while Boyhood, Nightcrawler, and Selma all made vivid impressions, each earning four nominations. Perhaps the biggest surprise on the list were the two out-of-left-field nods for the festival circuit favorite Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter, an indie oddity starring Oscar nominee Rinki Kikuchi (Babel, Pacific Rim) that debuted at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. As we reported previously, Amplify plans to release the film on February 27, 2015.

The Indie Spirits have gained a reputation in recent years as a significant stop in the awards race. For years, it was long felt that the Spirits celebrated the types of the films that Hollywood (and by extension, the Oscars) would normally pay little attention to. Yet – and this speaks greatly to the types of films getting made and types of films typically chosen for awards consideration – the profile of the Spirits and the correlation of nominations and winners have greatly coincided with the eventual Oscar winners. When The Artist won the top category for the 2011 Indie Spirits, it was the first time the Spirits and the Oscars matched since Platoon did so in 1987. Last year, 12 Years a Slave claimed victory at both the Spirits and the Oscars, while for the first time in history all four acting Oscars winners – Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyer’s Club), Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine), Jared Leto (Dallas Buyer’s Club), Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years a Slave) – won the same corresponding prizes at the Spirits a day earlier.

For this year’s Spirit Awards there were 341 films eligible, whittled down by 40 experts of the non-profit organization Film Independent. Winners will be voted on by the full Film Independent membership.  Guidelines include that a film must be either directed, written, or produced by an American citizen and have a film budget of $20 million or less (which is a reason why a film like Selma, being distributed by Paramount Pictures was considered eligible).  A few films not eligible included Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel, Paul Thomas Anderson’s Inherent Vice (though that film was given the Robert Altman Prize), and Bennett Miller’s Foxcatcher (though that film earned a Special Distinction Award). The winners will by announced under the white tent at Santa Monica Beach on February 21st, one day before the 87th Academy Awards.

Full list of nominees:

BEST FEATURE

• Birdman
• Boyhood
• Love is Strange
• Selma
• Whiplash

BEST DIRECTOR

• Damien Chazelle, Whiplash
• Ava DuVernay, Selma
• Alejandro G. Inárritu, Birdman
• Richard Linklater, Boyhood
• David Zellner, Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter

BEST MALE LEAD

• André Benjamin, Jimi: All is By My Side
• Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler
• Michael Keaton, Birdman
• John Lithgow, Love is Strange
• David Oyelowo, Selma

BEST FEMALE LEAD

• Marion Cotillard, The Immigrant
• Rinko Kikuchi, Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter
• Julianne Moore, Still Alice
• Jenny Slate, Obvious Child
• Tilda Swinton, Only Lovers Left Alive

BEST SUPPORTING MALE

• Riz Ahmed, Nightcrawler
• Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
• Alfred Molina, Love is Strange
• Edward Norton, Birdman
• J.K. Simmons, Whiplash

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE

• Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
• Jessica Chastain, A Most Violent Year
• Carmen Ejogo, Selma
• Andrea Suarez Paz, Stand Clear of the Closing Doors
• Emma Stone, Birdman

BEST FIRST FEATURE

• Dear White People
• A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
• Nightcrawler
• Obvious Child
• She’s Lost Control

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD (best picture made for less than $500,000)

• Blue Ruin
• It Felt Like Love
• Land Ho!
• Man From Reno
• Test

BEST SCREENPLAY

• Big Eyes– Scott Alexander, Larry Karaszewski
• Love is Strange– Ira Sachs, Mauricio Zacharias
• A Most Violent Year– J.C. Chandor
• Nightcrawler– Dan Gilroy
• Only Lovers Left Alive– Jim Jarmusch

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY

• Appropriate Behavior– Desiree Akhavan
• Dear White People– Justin Simien
• Little Accidents– Sara Colangelo
• The One I Love– Justin Lader
• She’s Lost Control– Anja Marquardt

BEST DOCUMENTARY

• 20,000 Days on Earth
• CitizenFour
• The Salt of the Earth
• Stray Dog
• Virunga

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM

• Force Majeure (Sweden)
• Ida (Poland)
• Leviathan (Russia)
• Mommy (Canada)
• Norte, the End of History (Philippines)
• Under the Skin (U.K.)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

• Birdman– Emmanuel Lubezki
• A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night– Lyle Vincent
• The Immigrant– Darius Khondji
• It Felt Like Love– Sean Porter
• Selma– Bradford Young

BEST EDITING

• Boyhood– Sandra Adair
• The Guest– Adam Wingard
• A Most Violent Year– Ron Patane
• Nightcrawler– John Gilroy
• Whiplash– Tom Cross

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD (given to a film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast)

• Inherent Vice– Paul Thomas Anderson, director; Cassandra Kulukundis, casting director; Josh Brolin, Martin Donovan, Jena Malone, Joanna Newsom, Joaquin Phoenix, Eric Roberts, Maya Rudolph, Martin Short, Serena Scott Thomas, Benicio Del Toro, Katherine Waterston, Michael Kenneth Williams, Owen Wilson, Reese Witherspoon, ensemble

SPECIAL DISTINCTION AWARD

• Foxcatcher– Bennett Miller, director; Anthony Bregman, Megan Ellison, John Kilik, producers; E. Max Frye, Dan Futterman, writers; Steve Carell, Mark Ruffalo, Channing Tatum, cast

18th ANNUAL PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD

• Chad Burris
• Elisabeth Holm
• Chris Ohlson

21st ANNUAL KIEHL’S SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD

• Ana Lily Amirpour, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
• Rania Attieh, Daniel Garcia, H.
• Chris Eska, The Retrieval

20th ANNUAL LENSCRAFTERS TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD

• Approaching the Elephant– Amanda Rose Wilder
• Evolution of a Criminal– Darius Clark Monroe
• The Kill Team– Dan Krauss
• The Last Season– Sara Dosa