The Independent Spirit Awards are kind of the anti-Oscars. They herald the best of film not siphoned through the traditional studio system.
The nominees for this year's awards were announced yesterday and mark the unofficial start of Awards Season. (Nominations for next year's Oscars will be announced Jan. 22.)
Four films -- The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, I'm Not There, Juno, and The Savages -- lead the way with four nominations each. With a tip of the hat to /Film for the info, here are the nominations in all categories.
BEST FEATURE
BEST FIRST FEATURE
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 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 FEMALE LEAD
- Angelina Jolie - A Mighty Heart
- Sienna Miller - Interview
- Ellen Page - Juno
- Parker Posey - Broken English
- Tang Wei - Lust, Caution
BEST SUPPORTING MALE
- Chiwetel Ejiofor - Talk To Me
- Marcus Carl Franklin - I'm Not There
- Kene Holliday - Great World of Sound
- Irfan Khan - The Namesake
- Steve Zahn - Rescue Dawn
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 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 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)
Many of these movies are already on DVD, including A Mighty Heart, Talk To Me, and The Lookout. Two other nominated films, The Namesake and Waitress, were released on DVD just yesterday.
Film Independent's 2008 Spirit Awards will be telecast Feb. 23 at 5:00 p.m. Eastern and then rebroadcast on AMC at 10:00 p.m.
