'Birdman' Leads Film Independent Spirit Awards Nominations

Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s arthouse hit “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” led the nominations for the 30th Film Independent Spirit Awards, it was announced this morning in Los Angeles. The film netted six nominations, followed by Richard Linklater’s “Boyhood,” Dan Gilroy’s “Nightcrawler” and Ava DuVernay’s “Selma,” which each landed five respective nominations.

Below find the full list of nominations and read Anne Thompson’s analysis here

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

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

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