Dylan Flick Leads 2008 Spirit Award Nominees

Film Independent announced their 2008 Spirit Award nominees this morning and leading the way is the eclectic Bob Dylan inspired feature I’m Not There, which nabbed four noms including best feature, director and supporting noms for Cate Blanchett and 13-year-old Marcus Carl Franklin. Even though the Spirit Awards focus on American independent films, I can’t help but believe this is a big boost for I’m Not There heading into Oscar season.

Another noteworthy aspect of the nominations involves the inclusion of foreign titles The Diving Bell and the Butterfly and Lust, Caution. The reason for their inclusion in the nominations outside of the “Best Foreign Film” category is because Film Independent’s rules stipluate that a film qualifies as long as one U.S. citizen or permanent resident is credited in two or more of the categories of writer, director or producer. Other requirements say that a film must have a budget less than $20 million, draw much of its funding from independent sources and display a unique vision.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is the one film on the list that I have not yet seen that I want to, and actually will be seeing this Thursday night. I have not seen The Savages, and already avoided one screening since it looks simply too damned depressing, but the films I am happy to see being recognized that will most likely be ignored come Oscar nominations are films such as 2 Days in Paris, Broken English and Once (which I am praying gets an Oscar nom, but we will have to wait and see).

The emotional nomination has to belong to the nomination for the late Adrienne Shelly and her screenplay for Waitress. Shelly was murdered November 1, 2006 in her apartment where she was found by her husband hanging by a bedsheet from a shower rod in the bathroom. Normally I am not one to fall into the trap of mourning the loss of someone I never knew, but this story just bugs me something fierce. The upcoming DVD release has a special feature dedicated to Shelly that I am interested in checking out and Waitress co-star Cheryl Hines is set to direct the final Shelly script Serious Moonlight next year.

The final film on the list I have not seen and am very interested in seeing due to the buzz it has received is Romania’s 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days written and directed by Cristian Mungiu. The synopsis for the story doesn’t exactly sound uplifting, but it sits at 8.4 on IMDB’s user ranking and I have read nothing but good things. IFC will release it in limited theaters in January ’08, so hopefully I will get a chance to see it soon. 4 Days is one of the five foreign nominees.

You can check out the complete list below.

Best feature

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

I’m Not There

Juno

A Mighty Heart

Paranoid Park

Best director

Todd Haynes, I’m Not There

Tamara Jenkins, The Savages

Jason Reitman, Juno

Julian Schnabel, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Gus Van Sant, Paranoid Park

Best first feature

2 Days in Paris

Great World of Sound

The Lookout

Rocket Science

Vanaja

John Cassavetes Award

August Evening

Owl and the Sparrow

The Pool

Quiet City

Shotgun Stories

Best screenplay

Ronald Harwood, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Tamara Jenkins, The Savages

Fred Parnes & Andrew Wagner, Starting Out in the Evening

Adrienne Shelly, Waitress

Mike White, Year of the Dog

Best first screenplay

Jeffrey Blitz, Rocket Science

Zoe Cassavetes, Broken English

Diablo Cody, Juno

Kelly Masterson, Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead

John Orloff, A Mighty Heart

Best female lead

Angelina Jolie, A Mighty Heart

Sienna Miller, Interview

Ellen Page, Juno

Parker Posey, Broken English

Tang Wei, Lust, Caution

Best male lead

Pedro Castaneda, August Evening

Don Cheadle, Talk to Me

Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Savages

Frank Langella, Starting Out in the Evening

Tony Leung, Lust, Caution

Best supporting female

Cate Blanchett, I’m Not There

Anna Kendrick, Rocket Science

Jennifer Jason Leigh, Margot at the Wedding

Tamara Podemski, Four Sheets to the Wind

Marisa Tomei, Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead

Best supporting male

Chiwetel Ejiofor, Talk to Me

Marcus Carl Franklin, I’m Not There

Kene Holliday, Great World of Sound

Irrfan Khan, The Namesake

Steve Zahn, Rescue Dawn

Best cinematography

Mott Hupfel, The Savages

Janusz Kaminski, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Milton Kam, Vanaja

Mihai Malaimare, Jr., Youth Without Youth

Rodrigo Prieto, Lust, Caution

Best documentary

Crazy Love

Lake of Fire

Manufactured Landscapes

The Monastery

The Prisoner or: How I Planned to Kill Tony Blair

Best foreign film

4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, Romania

The Band’s Visit, Israel

Lady Chatterley, France

Once, Ireland

Persepolis, France

Robert Altman Award

I’m Not There, Todd Haynes (director); Laura Rosenthal (casting director); Cate Blanchett, Christian Bale, Richard Gere, Heath Ledger, Ben Whishaw, Marcus Carl Franklin, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Bruce Greenwood (ensemble cast)

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