Oscar Frontrunner ’12 Years a Slave’ Earns Seven Indie Spirit Nominations

The nominations for the 29th Annual Film Independent Spirit Awards were announced this morning.  First introduced as an alternative to the Academy Awards and a place to honor the small and unique pieces of American filmmaking seldom celebrated at the Oscars, in recent years the Spirit Awards have become a vital first stop for a great many awards contenders.  Presented by Film Independent and voted on a by jury consisting of past winners and nominees, film critics, and members at large, the Independent Spirit Awards have over the decades been referred to as Oscar’s bridesmaid, but has proven to be a viable part of the awards season. 

Alexander Payne’s ‘Nebraska’ Earns Six Indie Spirit Nods

This year Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave leads the fray with seven nominations, followed by Alexander Payne’s Nebraska with six.  Both films made strong impressions, furthering their awards prospects of the seasons and earned nominations in the top Best Feature category – they were joined by Inside Llewyn Davis, the latest film Joel and Ethan Coen, which earned three nominations, J.C. Chandor’s All is Lost starring Sundance Kid indie film icon Robert Redford (who was nominated in the Leading Actor category) and in a nod to the quirky roots of the Spirit Awards, Frances Ha, the black and white French New Wave-inspired comedy starring Greta Gerwig.  If 12 Years a Slave were to triumph here as well as the Oscars this year (where right now, it appears the frontrunner for both), it would become only the third movie in history to do so following Oliver Stone’s Platoon and Michel Hazanavicius’ The Artist.

For a film to be eligible for the Independent Spirit Award, the film must have be an American production (except for the International Feature category) with a budget of less than $21 million and must have either been presented theatricality throughout the calendar year or premiered at one of the major North American film festivals like Sundance, Los Angeles, New York or Toronto.  This year, films like Lee Daniels’ The Butler, August: Osage County and Out of the Furnace were deemed ineligible to budgetary requirements.

The nominees are:

BEST FEATURE

• 12 Years a Slave
• All is Lost
• Frances Ha
• Inside Llewyn Davis
• Nebraska

BEST DIRECTOR

• Shane Carruth, Upstream Color
• J.C. Chandor, All is Lost
• Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave
• Jeff Nichols, Mud
• Alexander Payne, Nebraska

BEST FEMALE LEAD

• Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
• Julie Delpy, Before Midnight
• Gaby Hoffmann, Crystal Fairy
• Brie Larson, Short Term 12
• Shailene Woodley, The Spectacular Now

BEST MALE LEAD

• Bruce Dern, Nebraska
• Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave
• Oscar Isaac, Inside Llewyn Davis
• Michael B. Jordan, Fruitvale Station
• Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club
• Robert Redford, All is Lost

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE

• Melonie Diaz, Fruitvale Station
• Sally Hawkins, Blue Jasmine
• Lupita Nyong’o, 12 Years a Slave
• Yolonda, Ross, Go For Sisters
• June Squibb, Nebraska

BEST SUPPORTING MALE

• Michael Fassbender, 12 Years a Slave
• Will Forte, Nebraska
• James Gandolfini, Enough Said
• Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club
• Keith Stanfield, Short Term 12

BEST FIRST FEATURE

• Blue Caprice
• Concussion
• Fruitvale Station
• Una Noche
• Wadjda

BEST SCREENPLAY

• 12 Years a Slave– John Ridley
• Before Midnight– Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke & Richard Linklater
• Blue Jasmine– Woody Allen
• Enough Said– Nicole Holofcener
• The Spectacular Now– Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY

• Afternoon Delight– Jill Soloway
• Don Jon– Joseph Gordon-Levitt
• In a World…– Lake Bell
• The Inevitable Defeat of Mister & Pete– Mike Starrbury
• Nebraska– Bob Nelson

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD (Best Feature Made For Under $500,000)

• Computer Chess
• Crystal Fairy
• Museum Hours
• Pit Stop
• This is Martin Bonner

BEST DOCUMENTARY

• 20 Feet From Stardom
• The Act of Killing
  
• After Tiller
• Gideon’s Army
• The Square

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM

• Blue is the Warmest Color (France)
• Gloria (Chilé)
• The Great Beauty (Italy)
• The Hunt (Denmark)
• A Touch of Sin (China)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

• 12 Years a Slave– Sean Bobbitt
• All is Lost– Frank G. Demarco
• Computer Chess– Matthias Grunsky
• Inside Llewyn Davis– Bruno Delbonnel
• Spring Breakers– Benoit Debie

BEST EDITING

• Frances Ha– Jennifer Lame
• Museum Hours– Jem Cohen & Mark Vives
• Short Term 12– Nat Sanders
• Una Noche– Cindy Lee
• Upstream Color– Shane Carruth & David Lowery

17th ANNUAL PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD (Given to Emerging Independent Producers)

• Toby Halbrooks & James M. Johnston
• Jacob Jaffke
• Andrea Roa
• Frederick Thornton

19th ANNUAL SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD

• My Sister’s Quinceañera– Aaron Douglas Johnston
• Newlyweeds– Shaka King
• The Foxy Merkins– Medeline Olnek

19th ANNUAL STELLA ARTOIS TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD (Given to Emerging Documentary Filmmakers)

• A River Changes Course– Kalyanee Mam
• Let the Fire Burn– Jason Osder
• Manakamana– Stephanie Spray & Pacho Velez

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD (Given to the director, casting director and ensemble cast of a film)

• Mud- directed by Jeff Nichols; casting director: Francine Maisle; ensemble cast: Joe Don Baker, Jacob Lofland, Matthew McConaughey, Ray McKinnon, Sarah Paulson, Michael Shannon, Sam Shepard, Tye Sheridan, Paul Sparks, Bonnie Sturdivant, Reese Witherspoon

The Independent Spirit Awards will be handed out on March 1, 2014, upholding the tradition of handing out out their prizes day before the Academy Awards, in Santa Monica, California.  This years ceremony will be emceed by Patton Oswalt.