The 2016 Film Independent Spirit Award nominations were announced earlier today and it was a great boost for two Oscar hopefuls, with multiple nominations for Spotlight (my thoughts coming soon) and Carol. Both films received Best Feature noms along with Beasts of No Nation !!!, Tangerine and Anomalisa. I love the Beasts choiceand even though it is unlikely, I would be thrilled if it received some Oscar love. Screw the it is too violent or raw moniker they have going on. Come on Academy. I am little surprised not to see Room among the Best Feature choices. Brie Larson (Room ), Rooney Mara (Carol) and Cate Blanchett (Carol) were all nominated for Best Female Lead, Mara will be supporting for the Oscars. Below is a complete of list of nominees. It feels like the season is in full swing with Spirit’s eclectic and great choices this year, and especially with last night’s huge screening of Iñárritu’s The Revenant. I cannot wait to see that film. Enjoy!
“Anomalisa”
“Beasts of No Nation”
“Carol”
“Spotlight”
“Tangerine”Best Female Lead
Bel Powley, “The Diary of a Teenage Girl”
Brie Larson, “Room”
Cate Blanchett, “Carol”
Kitana Kiki Rodriguez, “Tangerine”
Rooney Mara, “Carol”
Best Male Lead
Abraham Attah, “Beasts of No Nation”
Ben Mendelsohn, “Mississippi Grind”
Christopher Abbott, “James White”
Jason Segel, “The End of the Tour”
Koudous Seihon, “Mediterranea”
Best Supporting Female
Cynthia Nixon, “James White”
Jennifer Jason Leigh, “Anomalisa”
Marin Ireland, “Glass Chin”
Mya Taylor, “Tangerine”
Robin Bartlett, “H.”
Best Supporting Male
Idris Elba, “Beasts of No Nation”
Kevin Corrigan, “Results”
Michael Shannon, “99 Homes”
Paul Dano, “Love & Mercy”
Richard Jenkins, “Bone Tomahawk”
Best Director
Cary Joji Fukunaga, “Beasts of No Nation”
Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson, “Anomalisa”
David Robert Mitchell, “It Follows”
Sean Baker, “Tangerine”
Todd Haynes, “Carol”
Tom McCarthy, “Spotlight”
Best Screenplay
Charlie Kaufman, “Anomalisa”
Donald Marguiles, ” The End of the Tour”
Phyllis Nagy, “Carol”
S. Craig Zahler, “Bone Tomahawk”
Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer, “Spotlight”
Best Documentary
“(T)ERROR”
“Best of Enemies”
“Heart of a Dog”
“Meru”
“The Look of Silence”
“The Russian Woodpecker”
Best International Film
“A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence”
“Embrace of the Serpent”
“Girlhood”
“Mustang”
“Son of Saul”
Best Cinematography
Cary Joji Fukunaga, “Beasts of No Nation”
Ed Lachman, “Carol”
Joshua James Richards, “Songs My Brothers Taught Me”
Michael Gioulakis, “It Follows”
Reed Morano, “Meadowland”
Best Editing
Julio C. Perez IV, “It Follows”
Kristan Sprague, “Manos Sucias”
Nathan Nugent, “Room”
Ronald Bronstein and Benny Safdie, “Heaven Knows What”
Tom McArdle, “Spotlight”
Best First Feature (awarded to director and producers)
“James White”
Director: Josh Mond
Producers: Max Born | Antonio Campos | Sean Durkin | Melody Roscher | Eric Schultz
“Manos Sucias”
Director: Josef Kubota Wladyka
Producers: Elena Greenlee | Márcia Nunes
“Mediterranea”
Director: Jonas Carpignano
Producers: Jason Michael Berman | Chris Columbus | Jon Coplon | Christoph Daniel | Andrew Kortschak | John Lesher | Ryan Lough | Justin Nappi | Alain Peyrollaz | Gwyn Sannia | Marc Schmidheiny | Victor Shapiro | Ryan Zacarias
“Songs My Brothers Taught Me”
Director: Chloé Zhao
Producers: Mollye Asher | Nina Yang Bongiovi | Angela C. Lee | Forest Whitaker
“The Diary of a Teenage Girl”
Director: Marielle Heller
Producers: Miranda Bailey | Anne Carey | Bert Hamelinck | Madeline Samit
Best First Screenplay
Emma Donoghue, “Room”
Jesse Andrews, “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl”
John Magary, Russell Harbaugh, and Myna Joseph, “The Mend”
Jonas Carpignano, “Mediterranea”
Marielle Heller, “The Diary of a Teenage Girl”
John Cassavetes Award (given to the writer, director and producer(s) of a feature made for under $500,000)
“Advantageous”
Writer / director / producer: Jennifer Phang
Writer / producer: Jacqueline Kim
Producers: Robert Chang | Ken Jeong | Moon Molson | Theresa Navarro
“Christmas, Again”
Writer / director / producer: Charles Poekel
“Heaven Knows What”
Directors: Josh Safdie and Benny Safdie
Writers: Josh Safdie | Ronald Bronstein
Producers: Oscar Boyson | Sebastian Bear McClard
“Krisha”
Writer / director / producer: Trey Edward Shults
Producers: Justin R. Chan | Chase Joliet | Wilson Smith
“Out of My Hand”
Writer / director: Takeshi Fukunaga
Writer / producer: Donari Braxton
Producer: Mike Fox
Robert Altman Award (given to the film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast)
“Spotlight”
Director: Tom McCarthy
Casting director: Kerry Barden and Paul Schnee
Ensemble cast: Billy Crudup | Brian d’Arcy James | Paul Guilfoyle | Neal Huff | Michael Keaton | Rachel McAdams | Mark Ruffalo | Liev Schreiber | Jamie Sheridan | John Slattery | Stanley Tucci
the film tank 