27th Annual Spirit Awards Nominations

I always look forward to hearing the Spirit Award nominations, especially as they give you ample time to actually see the films! The Awards Winners will be announced at the awards show on February 25, 2012 which airs on IFC (usually US IFC only, but every year I hope we'll see it live up here in Canada!)

The 27th Annual Spirit Awards Nominations are....

BEST FEATURE (Award given to the producer)
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)
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 Benaroya, 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 CASSAVETES 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 Award given to the dir ector and producer
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
SOPHIA 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

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 Spirit Awards ceremony will be take place on February 25, 2012 at 10PM EST/PST on IFC.