30th Film Independent Spirit Awards Announces Nominees!

As the awards show season ramps up into full intensity, the 30th Film Independent Spirit Awards just unveiled their list of hopefuls.

And not surprisingly, “Birdman” has received a whopping six mentions, followed closely behind by “Boyhood, “Selma” and “Nightcrawler,” each with five chances for glory.

Meanwhile, “Whiplash” and “Love is Strange” nabbed four nominations and “A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night” and “A Most Violent Year” scored three times.

The Film Independent Spirit Awards puts a budget cap of $20 million on movies, and therefore “Foxcatcher,” “Inherent Vice” and “Grand Budapest Hotel” were not up for consideration.

Slated to take place on February 21st in a tent on Santa Monica Beach, the 30th Annual Film Independent Spirit Awards is going to be an exciting event.

And the nominees are:

2015 FILM INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARD NOMINATIONS

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, Michael Litvak

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”

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

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

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”

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”

SUPPORTING FEMALE

Patricia Arquette

“Boyhood”

CIO, CTO & Developer Resources

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)”

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”

EDITING

Sandra Adair

“Boyhood”

Tom Cross

“Whiplash”

John Gilroy

“Nightcrawler”

Ron Patane

“A Most Violent Year”

Adam Wingard

“The Guest”

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

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