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)
