The 2012 Spirit Award Nominations are in, celebrating the best in Independent Film for the year 2011.  We have seen most of the films and could not agree more with the selections; some we must disagree with but that is the nature of the beast.  Here are all of the nominees; we can't wait to see who wins in February at the Awards Show.

BEST FEATURE

50/50
PRODUCERS: Evan Goldberg, Ben Karlin, Seth Rogen

BEGINNERS
PRODUCERS: Miranda de Pencier, Lars Knudsen, Leslie Urdang, Dean Vanech, Jay Van Hoy

DRIVE
PRODUCERS: Michel Litvak, John Palermo, Marc Platt, Gigi Pritzker, Adam Siegel

TAKE SHELTER
PRODUCERS: Tyler Davidson, Sophia Lin

THE ARTIST
PRODUCER: Thomas Langmann

THE DESCENDANTS
PRODUCERS: Jim Burke, Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor

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
(award given to the Director and Producer(s))

ANOTHER EARTH
DIRECTOR: Mike Cahill PRODUCERS: Mike Cahill, Hunter Gray, Brit Marling, Nicholas Shumaker

IN THE FAMILY
DIRECTOR: Patrick Wang PRODUCERS: Robert Tonino, Andrew van den Houten, Patrick Wang

MARGIN CALL
DIRECTOR: J.C. Chandor PRODUCERS: Robert Ogden Barnum, Michael Benar- oya, Neal Dodson, Joe Jenckes, Corey Moosa, Zachary Quinto

MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE
DIRECTOR: Sean Durkin PRODUCERS: Antonio Campos, Patrick Cunningham, Chris Maybach, Josh Mond

NATURAL SELECTION
DIRECTOR: Robbie Pickering PRODUCERS: Brion Hambel, Paul Jensen

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 CASSAVETTES AWARD
(Award given to the best feature made for under $500,000; award given to the writer, director, and producer)

BELLFLOWER
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Evan Glodell PRODUCERS: Evan Glodell, Vincent Grashaw

CIRCUMSTANCE
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Maryam Keshavarz PRODUCERS: Karin Chien, Maryam Keshavarz, Melissa Lee

HELLO LONESOME
WRITER/DIRECTOR/ PRODUCER: Adam Reid

PARIAH
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Dee Rees PRODUCER: Nekisa Cooper

THE DYNAMITER
WRITER: Brad Inglesby DIRECTOR: Matthew Gordon PRODUCERS: Kevin Abrams, Matthew Gordon, Merilee Holt, Art Jones, Mike Jones, Nate Tuck, Amile Wilson

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
DIRECTOR/PRODUCER: Jarreth Merz

BILL CUNNINGHAM NEW YORK
DIRECTOR: Richard Press PRODUCER: Philip Gefter

THE INTERRUPTERS
DIRECTOR/PRODUCER: Steve James PRODUCER: Alex Kotlowitz

THE REDEMPTION OF GENERAL BUTT NAKED
DIRECTORS/PRODUCERS: Eric Strauss, Daniele Anastasion

WE WERE HERE
DIRECTOR/PRODUCER: David Weissman

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
(Award given to the Director)

A SEPARATION (Iran)
DIRECTOR: Asghar Farhadi

MELANCHOLIA (Denmark, Sweded, France, Germany)
DIRECTOR: Lars Von Trier

SHAME (UK)
DIRECTOR: Steve McQueen

THE KID WITH A BIKE (Belgium, France, Italy)
DIRECTOR: Jean-Pierre Dardenne and Luc Dardenne

TYRANNOSAUR (UK)
DIRECTOR: Paddy Considine

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

MARGIN CALL
DIRECTOR: J.C. Chandor
CASTING DIRECTORS: 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

PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD

The 15th annual 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. The Finalists are:

CHAD BURRIS producer of MOSQUITA Y MARI S
OPHIA LIN producer of TAKE SHELTER
JOSH MOND producer of MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE

Piaget Producers Award Nominating Committee:
Brian Udovich (Chair), Anish Savjani, Lynette Howell, Amy Kaufman

SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD

The 18th annual 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. The Finalists are:

SIMON ARTHUR director of SILVER TONGUES
MARK JACKSON director of WITHOUT
NICHOLAS OZEKI director of MAMITAS

Someone To Watch Award Nominating Committee:
Alison Dickey (Chair), Jay Duplass, Lisa Kennedy, Daniel Stamm, James Faust

TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD
The 17th annual Truer Than Fiction Award is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant. The Finalists are:

HEATHER COURTNEY director of WHERE SOLDIERS COME FROM
DANFUNG DENNIS director of HELL AND BACK AGAIN
ALMA HAR’EL director of BOMBAY BEACH

Truer Than Fiction Nominating Committee:
Wesley Morris (Chair), Ava DuVernay, Laura Poitras, PJ Raval, Laura Thielen

JAMESON FIND YOUR AUDIENCE AWARD

The 2nd annual Jameson FIND Your Audience Award was established to help make it possible for one Spirit Award-nominated film to find a broader audience. The Award includes a $40,000 marketing and distribution grant, funded by Jameson Irish Whiskey. The grant is designed to meet the filmmakers’ biggest challenge today: How to get their films out into the marketplace.

A blue-ribbon committee will determine the winner. The deadline to submit is Friday, December 2, 2011.

More information on The Spirit Awards may be found at its official website here.