Film Independent Spirit Awards Nominations 2014

The 30th Film Independent Spirit Awards nominations were just announced. Birdman, Boyhood, Love is Strange, Selma and Whiplash are nominated for best picture. Birdman leads the total number of nominations with six while Boyhood, Nightcrawler and Selma each received five nominations overall.

You can hardly call most of these nominees 'independent' but lets not get into that tired argument again. Personally, I am glad to see The Immigrant get some love in cinematography and actress (Cotillard should get more love). Only Lovers Left Alive got a few mentions. The international film and documentary lineup looks stellar. My favorite category at Spirits is always the John Cassavetes Award. This year they have worthy indies like Blue Ruin, Land Ho! and It Felt Like Love nominated along with others. Both Inherent Vice and Foxcatcher will receive special prizes. Strange to see Big Eyes nominated for screenplay. A Most Violent Year had a limited showing. The Imitation Game, Wild, The Skeleton Twins etc had no showing at all. Anyways, check out the full list below and make sure to watch these films.

BEST FEATURE:

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Boyhood
Love is Strange
Selma
Whiplash


BEST DIRECTOR:

Damien Chazelle, Whiplash
Ava DuVernay, Selma
Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
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 or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
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 or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
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 or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

BEST SCREENPLAY:

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

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM:

Force Majeure (Sweden)
Ida (Poland)
Leviathan (Russia)
Mommy (Canada)
Norte, the End of History (Philippines)
Under the Skin (United Kingdom)

BEST DOCUMENTARY:

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

BEST EDITING:

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

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY:

Darius Khondji, The Immigrant
Emmanuel Lubezki, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Sean Porter, It Felt Like Love
Lyle Vincent, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
Bradford Young, Selma

BEST FIRST FEATURE:

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

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY:

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

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD: (Best feature made for under $500,000)

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

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD: (Given to director, casting director and ensemble cast)

Inherent Vice
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Casting Director: Cassandra Kulukundis
Ensemble Cast: 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

SPECIAL DISTINCTION AWARD:

Foxcatcher
Director/Producer: Bennett Miller
Producers: Anthony Bregman, Megan Ellison, Jon Kilik
Writers: E. Max Frye, Dan Futterman
Actors: Steve Carell, Mark Ruffalo, Channing Tatum

18th ANNUAL PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD:

Chad Burris
Elisabeth Holm
Chris Ohlson

21st ANNUAL KIEHL’S SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD:

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

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)