Having taken home the Best Picture award at last night’s Gotham Independent Film Awards, Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom finds itself nominated in the same category in the upcoming Independent Spirit Awards, with the full list of nominations announced tonight.
Anderson’s latest film has been nominated in a healthy five categories – Best Feature, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Supporting Male, and Best Cinematography – with David O. Russell’s Silver Linings Playbook also racking up an impressive five nominations, adding Best Female Lead and Best Male Lead to Best Feature, Director, and Screenplay.
Also coming in as strong contenders are Jacques Audiard’s Rust and Bone; Mary Elizabeth Winstead in the Best Female Lead category for her performance in Smashed; Colin Trevorrow in the Best First Feature category for Safety Not Guaranteed, and Derek Connolly in the Best First Screenplay for the same film; director Benh Zeitlin and Beasts of the Southern Wild; Rashida Jones and Will McCormack in the Best First Screenplay category for Celeste and Jesse Forever; producer Alicia Van Couvering for helping to bring Ry Russo-Young’s Nobody Walks to the big screen; Michael Peña and cinematographer Roman Vasyanov for their work on David Ayer’s End of Watch; and debut director Zal Batmanglij and actress Brit Marling for Sound of My Voice.
It’s been another incredible year for independent film, with some of the finest in recent memory making their way to the big screen in the past eleven months, and it’s fantastic to see them get the credit they all deserve when nominations like these are announced.
Last year, we saw The Artist sweep the board at the Independent Spirit Awards, and then went on to do the very same thing the next day at the Oscars.
With the Independent Spirit Awards once more falling the day before the Oscars, will we see the same thing happen again?
The Independent Spirit Awards will be held on Saturday, 23rd February, 2013, and with so many brilliant films and performances making the final list of nominations, I can’t wait to see the outcome in just under three months’ time.
BEST FEATURE
- Beasts of the Southern Wild – Producers: Michael Gottwald, Dan Janvey & Josh Penn
- Bernie – Producers: Liz Glotzer, Richard Linklater, David McFadzean, Dete Meserve, Judd Payne, Celine Rattray, Martin Shafer, Ginger Sledge, Matt Williams
- Keep the Lights On – Producers: Marie Therese Guirgis, Lucas Joaquin, Ira Sachs
- Moonrise Kingdom – Producers: Wes Anderson, Jeremy Dawson, Steven Rales, Scott Rudin
- Silver Linings Playbook – Producers: Bruce Cohen, Donna Gigliotti, Jonathan Gordon
BEST DIRECTOR
- Wes Anderson – Moonrise Kingdom
- Julia Loktev – The Loneliest Planet
- David O. Russell – Silver Linings Playbook
- Ira Sachs – Keep the Lights On
- Benh Zeitlin – Beasts of the Southern Wild
BEST SCREENPLAY
- Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola – Moonrise Kingdom
- Zoe Kazan – Ruby Sparks
- Martin McDonagh – Seven Psychopaths
- David O. Russell – Silver Linings Playbook
- Ira Sachs – Keep the Lights On
BEST FIRST FEATURE
- Fill the Void – Director: Rama Burshtein, Producer: Assaf Amir
- Gimme the Loot – Director: Adam Leon, Producers: Dominic Buchanan, Natalie Difford, Jamund Washington
- Safety Not Guaranteed – Director: Colin Trevorrow, Producers: Derek Connolly, Stephanie Langhoff, Peter Saraf, Colin Trevorrow, Marc Turtletaub
- Sound of My Voice – Director: Zal Batmanglij, Producers: Brit Marling, Hans Ritter, Shelley Surpin
- The Perks of Being a Wallflower – Director: Stephen Chbosky, Producers: Lianne Halfon, John Malkovich, Russell Smith
BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
- Rama Burshtein – Fill the Void
- Derek Connolly – Safety Not Guaranteed
- Christopher Ford – Robot & Frank
- Rashida Jones & Will McCormack – Celeste and Jesse Forever
- Jonathan Lisecki – Gayby
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.
- Breakfast with Curtis – Writer/Director/Producer: Laura Colella,
- Middle of Nowhere – Writer/Director/Producer: Ava DuVernay, Producers: Howard Barish, Paul Garnes
- Mosquita y Mari – Writer/Director: Aurora Guerrero, Producer: Chad Burris
- Starlet – Writer/Director: Sean Baker, Producers: Blake Ashman-Kipervaser, Kevin Chinoy, Patrick Cunningham, Chris Maybach, Francesca Silvestri
- The Color Wheel – Writer/Director/Producer: Alex Ross Perry, Writer: Carlen Altman
BEST FEMALE LEAD
- Linda Cardellini – Return
- Emayatzy Corinealdi – Middle of Nowhere
- Jennifer Lawrence – Silver Linings Playbook
- Quvenzhané Wallis – Beasts of the Southern Wild
- Mary Elizabeth Winstead – Smashed
BEST MALE LEAD
- Jack Black – Bernie
- Bradley Cooper – Silver Linings Playbook
- John Hawkes – The Sessions
- Thure Lindhardt – Keep the Lights On
- Matthew McConaughey – Killer Joe
- Wendell Pierce – Four
BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
- Rosemarie DeWitt – Your Sister’s Sister
- Ann Dowd – Compliance
- Helen Hunt – The Sessions
- Brit Marling – Sound of My Voice
- Lorraine Toussaint – Middle of Nowhere
BEST SUPPORTING MALE
- Matthew McConaughey – Magic Mike
- David Oyelowo – Middle of Nowhere
- Michael Péna – End of Watch
- Sam Rockwell – Seven Psychopaths
- Bruce Willis – Moonrise Kingdom
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
- Yoni Brook – Valley of Saints
- Lol Crawley – Here
- Ben Richardson – Beasts of the Southern Wild
- Roman Vasyanov – End of Watch
- Robert Yeoman – Moonrise Kingdom
BEST DOCUMENTARY – Award given to the Director and producer
- How to Survive a Plague – Director: David France, Producers: David France, Howard Gertler
- Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present – Director: Matthew Akers, Producers: Maro Chermayeff, Jeff Dupre
- The Central Park Five – Directors/Producers: Ken Burns, Sarah Burns, David McMahon
- The Invisible War – Director: Kirby Dick, Producers: Tanner King Barklow, Amy Ziering
- The Waiting Room – Director/Producer: Peter Nicks, Producers: Linda Davis, William B. Hirsch
BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM – Award given to the Director
- Amour (France) – Director: Michael Haneke
- Once Upon A Time in Anatolia (Turkey) – Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan
- Rust And Bone (France/Belgium) – Director: Jacques Audiard
- Sister (Switzerland) – Director: Ursula Meier
- War Witch (Democratic Republic of Congo) – Director: Kim Nguyen
16th ANNUAL PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD
The 16th 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.
- Nobody Walks – Producer: Alicia Van Couvering
- Prince Avalanche – Producer: Derrick Tseng
- Stones in the Sun – Producer: Mynette Louie
19th ANNUAL SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD
The 19th 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.
- Pincus – Director: David Fenster
- Gimme the Loot – Director: Adam Leon
- Electrick Children – Director: Rebecca Thomas
STELLA ARTOIS TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD
The 18th 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.
- Leviathan – Director: Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Véréna Paravel
- The Waiting Room – Director: Peter Nicks
- Only the Young – Director: Jason Tippet & Elizabeth Mims
ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD – Given to one film’s Director, casting Director, and its ensemble cast
- Starlet – Director: Sean Baker
- Casting Director: Julia Kim
- Ensemble Cast: Dree Hemingway, Besedka Johnson, Karren Karagulian, Stella Maeve, James Ransone
