2012 Independent Spirit Awards nominees announced

by Eric Melin on November 29, 2011

in Blogs

The nominations for the 27th Film Independent’s Spirit Awards were announced this morning in Los Angeles, with “The Artist” and “Take Shelter” leading the pack with 5 nominations a piece, followed by “Drive” and “The Descendants” with four each.

Best Feature: “50/50″, “Beginners”, “Drive”, “Take Shelter”, “The Artist” and “The Descendants”

Best Director: Mike Mills (Beginners), Nicholas Winding Refn (Drive), Jeff Nichols (Take Shelter) Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist) and Alexander Payne (The Descendants)

Best First Feature: “Another Earth”, “In The Family”, “Margin Call”, “Martha Marcy May Marlene” and “Natural Selection”

Best Male Lead: Demian Bichir (A Better Life), Jean Dujardin (The Artist), Ryan Gosling (Drive), Woody Harrelson (Rampart) and Michael Shannon (Take Shelter)

Best Female Lead: Lauren Ambrose (Think of Me), Rachel Harris (Natural Selection), Adepero Oduye (Pariah), Elizabeth Olsen (Martha Marcy May Marlene) and Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn)

Best Supporting Male: Albert Brooks (Drive), John Hawkes (Martha Marcy May Marlene), Christopher Plummer (Beginners), John C. Reilly (Cedar Rapids) and Corey Stoll (Midnight in Paris)

Best Supporting Female: Jessica Chastain (Take Shelter), Angelica Huston (50/50), Janet McTeer (Albert Nobbs), Harmony Santana (Gun Hll Road) and Shaileen Woodley (The Descendants)

Robert Altman Award: “Margin Call”

John Cassavetes Award (films made for under $500,000): “Bellflower”, “Circumstance”, “Hello Lonesome”, “Pariah” and “The Dynamiter”

Best Documentary: “An African Selection”, “Bill Cunningham New York”, “The Interrupters”, “The Redemption of General Butt Naked” and “We Were Here”

Best International Film: “A Separation”, “Melancholia”, “Shame”, “The Kid With a Bike” and “Tyranasaur”

Best Cinematography: Joel Hodge (Bellflower), Benjamin Kuh-Sulk (The Off Hours), Darius Kond-Jee (Midnight in Paris), Guillaume Schiffman (The Artist) and Jeffrey Waldron (The Dynamiter)

Best First Screenplay: Mike Cahill & Brit Marling (Another Earth), J.C. Chandor (Margin Call), Patrick DeWitt (Terri), Phil Johnston (Cedar Rapids) and Will Reiser (50/50)

Best Screenplay: Joseph Cedar (FootNotes), Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist), Tom McCarthy (Win Win), Mike Mills (Beginners) and Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon & Jim Rash (The Descendants)

Truer Than Fiction Award: Heather Courtney, Danfung Dennis, and Alma Har’El

Piaget Producers Award: Chad Burris, Sophia Lin and Josh Mond

Someone to Watch Award: Simon Arthur, Mark Jackson and Nicholas Ozeki

Eric is the Editor-in-Chief of Scene-Stealers.com, a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, and contributor for The Pitch. He’s former President of the KCFCC, and drummer for The Dead Girls, Ultimate Fakebook, and Truck Stop Love . He is also the 2013 Air Guitar World Champion Mean Melin, ranked 4th best of all-time. Eric goes to 11. Follow him at:

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{ 2 comments }

1 Xavier November 29, 2011 at 2:51 pm

I think we’ll almost certainly see drive, beginners, take shelter and the descendants as oscar nominees as well (maybe the artist too).

2 Eric Melin November 30, 2011 at 2:00 pm

Well The Artist just won the NYFCC Best Pic of the year, so you can count on it. I’d be surprised (but absolutely delighted) to see Drive, Beginners, or Take Shelter in the Best Pic Oscar race. Add Melancholia and Tree of Life to that list, and it’d be a dreamworld!

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