Film Independent Spirit Award Nominations Announced

The Film Independent Spirit Awards – sometimes shorthanded as the indie film Oscars – just announced its nominations, and boy, are there are a lot of happy Texans today.

To absolutely no one’s surprise, Richard Linklater’s critically adored Boyhood racked up an impressive five nominations, with nods for Best Feature, Best Director, Best Supporting Female (Patricia Arquette), Best Supporting Male (Ethan Hawke), and Best Editing (by Linklater’s longtime editor, Sandra Adair).

Less preordained but just as nifty news: The Zellner Brothers’ Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter, which won't open theatrically until February 2015, made the cut for Best Director and Best Female Lead (Rinko Kikuchi). Meanwhile, producer Chris Ohlson is one of three finalists for the prestigious Piaget Producers Award, which comes with a $25,000 prize.

Other Texans up for $25,000 prizes: Past winner Chris Eska, nominated for the Someone to Watch Award for his drama The Retrieval, and Houston’s Darius Clark Monroe, nominated for the Truer Than Fiction Award for his documentary Evolution of a Criminal.

Full list of nominees below. The 30th annual Independent Spirit Awards take place Feb. 21, 2015 and will be broadcast on the IFC Channel.

BEST FEATURE

(Award given to the producer; executive producers are not awarded.)
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

Producers: Alejandro G. Iñárritu, John Lesher, Arnon Milchan, James W. Skotchdopole
Boyhood

Producers: Richard Linklater, Jonathan Sehring, John Sloss, Cathleen Sutherland
Love is Strange

Producers: Lucas Joaquin, Lars Knudsen, Ira Sachs, Jayne Baron Sherman, Jay Van Hoy
Selma

Producers: Christian Colson, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Oprah Winfrey
Whiplash

Producers: Jason Blum, Helen Estabrook, David Lancaster, Michel Litvak

 

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 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 FIRST FEATURE

(Award given to the director and producer.)
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night

Director: Ana Lily Amirpour, Producers: Justin Begnaud, Sina Sayyah
Dear White People

Director/Producer: Justin Simien, Producers: Effie T. Brown, Ann Le, Julia Lebedev, Angel Lopez, Lena Waithe
Nightcrawler

Director: Dan Gilroy, Producers: Jennifer Fox, Tony Gilroy, Jake Gyllenhaal, David Lancaster, Michel Litvak
Obvious Child

Director: Gillian Robespierre, Producer: Elisabeth Holm
She’s Lost Control

Director/Producer: Anja Marquardt, Producers: Mollye Asher, Kiara C. Jones

 

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

(Given to the best feature made for under $500,000. Award given to the writer, director and producer; executive producers are not awarded.
Blue Ruin
Writer/Director: Jeremy Saulnier, Producers: Richard Peete, Vincent Savino, Anish Savjani
It Felt Like Love

Writer/Director/Producer: Eliza Hittman, Producers: Shrihari Sathe, Laura Wagner
Land Ho!

Writers/Directors: Aaron Katz & Martha Stephens, Producers: Christina Jennings, Mynette Louie, Sara Murphy
Man From Reno

Writer/Director: Dave Boyle, Writers: Joel Clark, Michael Lerman, Producer: Ko Mori
Test

Writer/Director/Producer: Chris Mason Johnson, Producer: Chris Martin

 

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 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 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 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 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 EDITING

Sandra Adair

Boyhood
Tom Cross

Whiplash
John Gilroy

Nightcrawler
Ron Patane

A Most Violent Year
Adam Wingard

The Guest

 

BEST DOCUMENTARY

(Award given to the director and producer.)
20,000 Days on Earth

Directors: Iain Forsyth & Jane Pollard, Producers: Dan Bowen, James Wilson
CITIZENFOUR

Director/Producer: Laura Poitras, Producers: Mathilde Bonnefoy, Dirk Wilutzky
Stray Dog

Director: Debra Granik, Producer: Anne Rosellini
The Salt of the Earth

Directors: Juliano Ribeiro Salgado and Wim Wenders, Producer: David Rosier
Virunga

Director/Producer: Orlando Von Einsiedel, Producer: Joanna Natasegara

 

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM

(Award given to the director.)
Force Majeure (Sweden)

Director: Ruben Östlund
Ida (Poland)

Director: Pawel Pawlikowski
Leviathan (Russia)

Director: Andrey Zvyagintsev
Mommy (Canada)

Director: Xavier Dolan
Norte, the End of History (Philippines)

Director: Lav Diaz
Under the Skin (United Kingdom)

Director: Jonathan Glazer

 

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD

(Given to one film’s 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

The 18th annual Producers Award, sponsored by Piaget, 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.
Chad Burris

Elisabeth Holm

Chris Ohlson

 

21st ANNUAL KIEHL’S SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD

The 21st annual Someone to Watch Award, sponsored by Kiehl’s Since 1851, recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Kiehl’s Since 1851.
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night

Director: Ana Lily Amirpour
H.

Directors: Rania Attieh & Daniel Garcia
The Retrieval

Director: Chris Eska

 

20th ANNUAL LENSCRAFTERS TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD

The 20th annual Truer Than Fiction Award, sponsored by LensCrafters 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 funded by LensCrafters.
Approaching the Elephant

Director: Amanda Rose Wilder
Evolution of a Criminal

Director: Darius Clark Monroe
The Kill Team

Director: Dan Krauss
The Last Season

Director: Sara Dosa