Todd Haynes’ 1950s-set lesbian romance Carol leads the pack with six nods as nominations were announced this morning for the 31st Independent Spirit Awards. Hosted by Film Independent, the Spirit honor the best of American independent cinema of the year. Eligible films must be American is some sense (either through filmmakers, financing or producers) and must have a budget less than $20 million. In recent years, the Spirits have had much greater correlation with eventual Oscar winners- the last two years running have seen the same film winning top prizes at both events (Birdman last year and 12 Years a Slave the year prior).
Along with the decent showing for Carol (which also received two nods in the Best Actress category for stars Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara), Spotlight, the critically acclaimed drama centering around the Pulitzer Prize winning Catholic Church sex abuse investigation earned five nominations as well as earned the Robert Altman Award (which honors films’ director, casting director and ensemble cast). Somewhat surprisingly, the Netflix drama Beasts of No Nation earned five nods as well including a Best Feature mention- something which will help boost that films’ profile after disappointing at the box office. Perhaps even more surprising and historic, Best Feature nominee Anomalisa (a stop-motion film from Charlie Kaufman) received an acting mention for Jennifer Jason Leigh’s vocal performance. Sean Baker’s critically acclaimed Tangerine rounds out the nominees for Best Feature.
The Independent Spirit Awards will take place on February 27, 2016. As usual, the awards will be handed out the day before the Academy Awards.
BEST FEATURE
- Anomalisa
- Beasts of No Nation
- Carol
- Spotlight
- Tangerine
BEST DIRECTOR
- Sean Baker, Tangerine
- Cary Joji Fukunaga, Beasts of No Nation
- Todd Haynes, Carol
- Charlie Kaufman, Duke Johnson, Anomalisa
- David Robert Mitchell, It Follows
BEST MALE LEAD
- Christopher Abbott, James White
- Abraham Attah, Beasts of No Nation
- Ben Mendelsohn, Mississippi Grind
- Jason Segel, The End of the Tour
- Koudous Seihon, Mediterranea
BEST FEMALE LEAD
- Cate Blanchett, Carol
- Brie Larson, Room
- Rooney Mara, Carol
- Bel Powley, The Diary of a Teenage Girl
- Kitana Kiki Rodriguez, Tangerine
BEST SUPPORTING MALE
- Kevin Corrigan, Results
- Paul Dano, Love & Mercy
- Idris Elba, Beasts of No Nation
- Richard Jenkins, Bone Tomahawk
- Michael Shannon, 99 Homes
BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
- Robin Bartlett, H.
- Marin Ireland, Glass Chin
- Jennifer Jason Leigh, Anomalisa
- Cynthia Nixon, James White
- Mya Tayler, Tangerine
BEST SCREENPLAY
- Anomalisa– Charlie Kaufman
- Bone Tomahawk– S. Craig Zahler
- Carol– Phyllis Nagy
- The End of the Tour– Donald Margulies
- Spotlight– Tom McCarthy, Josh Singer
BEST FIRST FEATURE
- The Diary of a Teenage Girl
- James White
- Manos Sucias
- Mediterranea
- Songs My Brother Taught Me
BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
- The Diary of a Teenage Girl– Marielle Heller
- Mediterranea– Joseph Carpignano
- Me and Earl and the Dying Girl– Jesse Andrews
- The Mend– John Magary, Russell Harbaugh, Myna Joseph
- Room– Emma Donoghue
BEST DOCUMENTARY
- Heart of a Dog
- The Look of Silence
- Meru
- The Russian Woodpecker
- (T)error
BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
- Embrace the Serpent
- Girlhood
- Mustang
- A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence
- Son of Saul
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
- Beasts of No Nation– Cary Joji Fukunaga
- Carol– Ed Lachman
- It Follows– Michael Guoulakis
- Meadowland– Reed Morano
- Songs My Brother Taught Me– Joshua James Richards
BEST EDITING
- Manos Sucias– Kristan Sprague
- Heaven Knows What– Ronald Bronstein, Benny Safdie
- It Follows– Julio C. Perez IV
- Room– Nathan Nugent
- Spotlight– Tom McArdle
JOHN CASSAVETTES AWARD (BEST FEATURE UNDER $500,000)
- Advantageous
- Christmas, Again
- Heaven Knows What
- Krisha
- Out of My Mind
KIEHL’S SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD
- God Bless the Child– directed by Robert Machoian, Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck
- King Jack– directed by Felix Thompson
- Songs My My Brother Taught Me– directed by Chloe Zhao
21st TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD
- Among the Believers– directed by Mohammed Ali Naqvi, Hemal Trivedi
- Incorruptible– directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi
- A Woman Like Me– directed by Elizabeth Giamatti, Alex Sichel
19th ANNUAL PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD
- Darren Dean
- Mel Eslyn
- Rebecca Green, Laura D. Smith
ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD (Given to films’ ensemble cast, director and casting director)
- Spotlight– director: Tom McCarthy; casting directors: Kerry Bardem, Paul Schnee; ensemble cast: Billy Crudup, Paul Guilfoyle, Neal Huff, Brian d’Arcy James, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Mark Ruffalo, Liev Schreiber, Jamey Sheridan, John Slattery, Stanley Tucci
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