Indie Spirit Nominations Get It Mostly Right
The Independent Spirit Awards, what has been in the past an alternative to the Oscars, just released its raft of nominees for this year, and they seem to have done pretty well. There are truly great films on the short lists this time, including the masterpiece 12 Years A Slave, Inside Llewyn Davis, Mud and many other truly great films. But the nominations seem like a conscious effort to spread love around - something that makes sense in a year as fantastic as 2013 has been.
12 Years A Slave leads the nominees with 7 nods, including Best Feature, Best Director, Best Lead, Best Supporting Male and Female, Best Screenplay and Best Cinematography. Coming up just behind is Nebraska with 6 nominations. All Is Lost came in big with 4 nods.
Some films were overlooked; while Upstream Color got nominations for Shane Carruth in directing and editing, it missed out on other categories, including the Cassavetes Award, given to films under $500,000. Nobody's sure what the budget of Upstream Color was, but I'd hazard it's less than half a mil. Frances Ha got a Best Feature nod, but Greta Gerwig - who is the movie - somehow didn't get a Best Lead nomination. And while Jeff Nichols got a Director nod for Mud, the film itself was left out of the Feature crowd. Don't cry too much for Mud, though - it got the Altman Award, which goes to everybody involved.
This is an interesting year, as 12 Years A Slave seems a likely frontrunner for both the ISAs and the Oscars. Below is the complete nominee list. Where applicable I've bolded my dream winner - not who I think will win, but who I'd like to win.
BEST FEATURE
(Award given to the producer) * Executive Producers are not listed.
12 YEARS A SLAVE
PRODUCERS: Dede Gardner, Anthony Katagas, Jeremy Kleiner, Steve McQueen, Arnon Milchan, Brad Pitt, Bill Pohlad
ALL IS LOST
PRODUCERS: Neal Dodson, Anna Gerb
FRANCES HA
PRODUCERS: Noah Baumbach, Scott Rudin, Rodrigo Teixeira, Lila Yacoub
INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS
PRODUCERS: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, Scott Rudin
NEBRASKA
PRODUCERS: Albert Berger, Ron Yerxa
BEST FIRST FEATURE
(Award given to the director and producer)
BLUE CAPRICE
DIRECTOR/PRODUCER: Alexandre Moors
PRODUCERS: Kim Jackson, Brian O’Carroll, Isen Robbins, Will Rowbotham, Ron Simons, Aimee Schoof, Stephen Tedeschi
CONCUSSION
DIRECTOR: Stacie Passon
PRODUCER: Rose Troche
FRUITVALE STATION
DIRECTOR: Ryan Coogler
PRODUCERS: Nina Yang Bongiovi, Forest Whitaker
UNA NOCHE
DIRECTOR/PRODUCER: Lucy Mulloy
PRODUCERS: Sandy Pérez Aguila, Maite Artieda, Daniel Mulloy, Yunior Santiago
WADJDA
DIRECTOR: Haifaa Al Mansour
PRODUCERS: Gerhard Meixner, Roman Paul
JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD
(Award given to the best feature made for under $500,000; award given to the writer, director, and producer)
* Executive Producers are not listed.
COMPUTER CHESS
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Andrew Bujalski
PRODUCERS: Houston King, Alex Lipschultz
CRYSTAL FAIRY
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Sebastián Silva
PRODUCERS: Juan de Dios Larraín, Pablo Larraín
MUSEUM HOURS
WRITER/DIRECTOR/PRODUCER: Jem Cohen
PRODUCERS: Paolo Calamita, Gabriele Kranzelbinder
PIT STOP
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Yen Tan
WRITER: David Lowery
PRODUCERS: Jonathan Duffy, James M. Johnston, Eric Steele, Kelly Williams
THIS IS MARTIN BONNER
WRITER/DIRECTOR: Chad Hartigan
PRODUCER: Cherie Saulter
BEST DIRECTOR
SHANE CARRUTH – Upstream Color
J.C. CHANDOR – All Is Lost
STEVE McQUEEN -12 Years A Slave
JEFF NICHOLS – Mud
ALEXANDER PAYNE – Nebraska
BEST SCREENPLAY
WOODY ALLEN – Blue Jasmine
JULIE DELPY, ETHAN HAWKE, RICHARD LINKLATER – Before Midnight
NICOLE HOLOFCENER –Enough Said
SCOTT NEUSTADTER & MICHAEL H. WEBER – The Spectacular Now
JOHN RIDLEY – 12 Years A Slave
BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
LAKE BELL – In A World
JOSEPH GORDON-LEVITT – Don Jon
BOB NELSON – Nebraska
JILL SOLOWAY – Afternoon Delight
MICHAEL STARRBURY – The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
SEAN BOBBITT – 12 Years A Slave
BENOIT DEBIE – Spring Breakers
BRUNO DELBONNEL – Inside Llewyn Davis
FRANK G. DEMARCO – All Is Lost
MATTHIAS GRUNSKY – Computer Chess
BEST EDITING
SHANE CARRUTH, DAVID LOWERY -Upstream Color
JEM COHEN, MARC VIVES – Museum Hours
JENNIFER LAME – Frances Ha
CINDY LEE – Una Noche
NAT SANDERS – Short Term 12
BEST MALE LEAD
BRUCE DERN -Nebraska
CHIWETEL EJIOFOR – 12 Years A Slave
OSCAR ISAAC – Inside Llewyn Davis
MICHAEL B. JORDAN –Fruitvale Station
MATTHEW McCONAUGHEY – Dallas Buyers Club
ROBERT REDFORD – All Is Lost
BEST FEMALE LEAD
CATE BLANCHETT – Blue Jasmine
JULIE DELPY – Before Midnight
GABY HOFFMANN –Crystal Fairy
BRIE LARSON – Short Term 12
SHAILENE WOODLEY – The Spectacular Now
BEST SUPPORTING MALE
MICHAEL FASSBENDER – 12 Years A Slave
WILL FORTE –Nebraska
JAMES GANDOLFINI – Enough Said
JARED LETO – Dallas Buyers Club
KEITH STANFIELD – Short Term 12
BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
MELONIE DIAZ – Fruitvale Station
SALLY HAWKINS – Blue Jasmine
LUPITA NYONG’O –12 Years A Slave
YOLONDA ROSS – Go For Sisters
JUNE SQUIBB - Nebraska
BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
A TOUCH OF SIN (China)
DIRECTOR: Jia Zhang-Ke
BLUE IS THE WARMEST COLOR (France)
DIRECTOR: Abdellatif Kechiche
GLORIA (Chile)
DIRECTOR: Sebastián Lelio
THE GREAT BEAUTY (Italy)
DIRECTOR: Paola Sorrentino
THE HUNT (Denmark)
DIRECTOR: Thomas Vinterberg
BEST DOCUMENTARY
(Award given to the director and producer)
20 FEET FROM STARDOM
DIRECTOR/PRODUCER: Morgan Neville
PRODUCERS: Gil Friesen, Caitrin Rogers
AFTER TILLER
DIRECTORS/PRODUCERS: Martha Shane and Lana Wilson
GIDEON’S ARMY
DIRECTOR/PRODUCER: Dawn Porter
PRODUCER: Julie Goldman
THE ACT OF KILLING
DIRECTOR/PRODUCER: Joshua Oppenheimer
PRODUCERS: Joram Ten Brink, Christine Cynn, Anne Köhncke, Signe Byrge Sørensen, Michael Uwemedimo
THE SQUARE
DIRECTOR: Jehane Noujaim
PRODUCER: Karim Amer
ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD
(Award given to one film’s director, casting director, and its ensemble cast)
MUD
DIRECTOR: Jeff Nichols
CASTING DIRECTOR: Francine Maisler
ENSEMBLE CAST: Joe Don Baker, Jacob Lofland, Matthew McConaughey, Ray McKinnon, Sarah Paulson, Michael Shannon, Sam Shepard, Tye Sheridan, Paul Sparks, Bonnie Sturdivant, Reese Witherspoon
17th ANNUAL PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD
The 17th 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.
TOBY HALBROOKS & JAMES M. JOHNSTON
JACOB JAFFKE
ANDREA ROA
FREDERICK THORNTON
20th ANNUAL SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD
The 20th annual Someone to Watch Award recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition.
AARON DOUGLAS JOHNSTON, director of MY SISTER’S QUINCEAÑERA
SHAKA KING, director of NEWLYWEEDS
MADELINE OLNEK, director of THE FOXY MERKINS
19th ANNUAL STELLA ARTOIS TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD
The 19th annual Truer Than Fiction Award, sponsored by Stella Artois, 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.
KALYANEE MAM, director of A RIVER CHANGES COURSE
JASON OSDER, director of LET THE FIRE BURN
STEPHANIE SPRAY & PACHO VALEZ, directors of MANAKAMANA
