This morning, Eva Mendes and Jeremy Renner presented the 2011 Film Independent Spirit Award nominations and last night’s Gotham Awards big winner, Winter’s Bone was this morning’s leading nominee with a total of seven nominations including Best Feature, Best Director (Debra Granik), Best Screenplay (Debra Granik and Anne Rosellini), Best Female Lead (Jennifer Lawrence), Best Supporting Female (Dale Dickey), Best Supporting Male (John Hawkes) and Best Cinematography (Michael McDonough).
Coming in second on the nomination list was The Kids are All Right with five, followed by Black Swan, Greenberg and Rabbit Hole, all with four. The only nominee for Best Feature not to have at least four nominations was Danny Boyle’s 127 Hours, which earned three noms.
A few things of note when quickly glancing through the list, Winter’s Bone is not only making a hard push for a Best Picture nomination, which now appears to be a certainty just as is a Best Actress nomination for Jennifer Lawrence, but the supporting cast is also finally getting some due. I’ve had both John Hawkes and Dale Dickey on my Supporting Actor and Actress predictions for quite some time and both earned nominations from Film Independent. I’m also now beginning to wonder if Granik has a shot at a Best Director nomination from the Academy.
Additionally, the Best Male Lead nomination for Ronald Bronstein (Daddy Longlegs) is definitely of note as he beat out Lawrence last night at the Gotham Awards for Best Breakthrough Actor. It’s proving to be a nice couple of days for the actor.
On the opposite end of the spectrum a Best Feature nom for Greenberg is silly and I hate it when I see six nominees in categories where there have always been five, which is the case for the Best Female Lead category this year. Just make up your mind, no one will hold it against you for having an opinion.
Finally, the The Last Exorcism nomination for Best First Feature reeks of lack of candidates and a Best First Screenplay nomination for Bob Glaudini’s Jack Goes Boating is a definite head scratcher, both those films were terrible.
Other than that, this is a big year for independent film as you can tell by the nominees, sure, heavy hitters such as The King’s Speech (because it’s considered a foreign film), The Social Network, True Grit, The Fighter and Inception aren’t eligible for independent awards, but this is a chance for some of these films and their actors and filmmaking crews to make a statement.
In 2009 Melissa Leo won the Best Female Lead award for Frozen River out of nowhere and went on to earn her first Oscar nomination for the same role, so these awards aren’t just small blips on the map and perhaps we’ll see some serious movement once the winners are announced on Saturday, February 26, 2011 at 2:00 p.m.
I’ve included the complete list of nominees directly below.
BEST FEATURE (Award given to the Producer, Executive Producers are not listed)
- 127 Hours
- Black Swan
- Greenberg
- The Kids Are All Right
- Winter’s Bone
BEST DIRECTOR
- Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan)
- Danny Boyle (127 Hours)
- Lisa Cholodenko (The Kids Are All Right)
- Debra Granik (Winter’s Bone)
- John Cameron Mitchell (Rabbit Hole)
BEST SCREENPLAY
- Stuart Blumberg and Lisa Cholodenko (The Kids Are All Right)
- Debra Granik and Anne Rosellini (Winter’s Bone)
- Nicole Holofcener (Please Give)
- David Lindsay-Abaire (Rabbit Hole)
- Todd Solondz (Life During Wartime)
BEST FIRST FEATURE (Award given to the director and producer)
- Everything Strange and New (dir. Frazer Bradshaw)
- Get Low (dir. Aaron Schneider)
- Night Catches Us (dir. Tanya Hamilton)
- The Last Exorcism (dir. Daniel Stamm)
- Tiny Furniture (dir. Lena Dunham)
BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
- Diane Bell (Obselidia)
- Lena Dunham (Tiny Furniture)
- Nik Fackler (Lovely, Still)
- Bob Glaudini (Jack Goes Boating)
- Dana Adam Shapiro, Evan M. Wiener (Monogamy)
JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD – Given to the best feature made for under $500,000. Award given to the writer, director, and producer. Executive Producers are not listed
- Daddy Longlegs
- Lbs.
- Lovers of Hate
- Obselidia
- The Exploding Girl
BEST FEMALE LEAD
- Annette Bening (The Kids Are All Right)
- Greta Gerwig (Greenberg)
- Nicole Kidman (Rabbit Hole)
- Jennifer Lawrence (Winter’s Bone)
- Natalie Portman (Black Swan)
- Michelle Williams (Blue Valentine)
BEST MALE LEAD
- Ronald Bronstein (Daddy Longlegs)
- Aaron Eckhart (Rabbit Hole)
- James Franco (127 Hours)
- John C. Reilly (Cyrus)
- Ben Stiller (Greenberg)
BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
- Ashley Bell (The Last Exorcism)
- Dale Dickey (Winter’s Bone)
- Allison Janney (Life During Wartime)
- Daphne Rubin-Vega (Jack Goes Boating)
- Naomi Watts (Mother and Child)
BEST SUPPORTING MALE
- John Hawkes (Winter’s Bone)
- Samuel L. Jackson (Mother and Child)
- Bill Murray (Get Low)
- John Ortiz (Jack Goes Boating)
- Mark Ruffalo (The Kids Are All Right)
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
- Adam Kimmel (Never Let Me Go)
- Matthew Libatique (Black Swan)
- Jody Lee Lipes (Tiny Furniture)
- Michael McDonough (Winter’s Bone)
- Harris Savides (Greenberg)
BEST DOCUMENTARY (Award given to the director)
- Exit Through the Gift Shop
- Marwencol
- Restrepo
- Sweetgrass
- Thunder Soul
BEST FOREIGN FILM (Award given to the director)
- Kisses
- Mademoiselle Chambon
- Of Gods and Men
- The King’s Speech
- Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
ACURA SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD — The 17th annual Acura Someone to Watch Award recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Acura.
- Hossein Keshavarzs (Dog Sweat)
- Laurel Nakadates (The Wolf Knife)
- Mike Otts (Littlerock)
PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD — The 14th annual Piaget Producers Award 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.
- In-Ah Lee (Au Revoir Taipei)
- Adele Romanski (The Myth of the American Sleepover)
- Anish Savjani (Meek’s Cutoff)
AVEENO TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD — The 16th annual AVEENO Truer Than Fiction Award 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 funded by AVEENO.
- Ilisa Barbash, Lucien Castaing-Taylor (Sweetgrass)
- Jeff Malmberg (Marwencol)
- Lynn True, Nelson Walker (Summer Pasture)
ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD – (Given to one film’s director, casting director, and its ensemble cast)
- Please Give
Director: Nicole Holofcener
Casting Director: Jeanne McCarthy
Ensemble Cast: Ann Guilbert, Rebecca Hall, Catherine Keener, Amanda Peet, Oliver Platt, Lois Smith, Sarah Steele
