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.