One of the defining characteristics of Film Independent’s mission is to champion diversity in film. You couldn’t find a better example of that aim than the Best Feature category for the 2016 Film Independent Spirit Awards, announced this morning. Among the nominees in that category are a stop-motion animated film, an Oscar frontrunner and a film about transgender sex workers shot on an iPhone. Either Anomalisa, Beasts of No Nation, Carol, Spotlight, or Tangerine will go home with the Spirit Award for Best Feature after the Awards Show on the beach in Santa Monica on February 27. Actors John Boyega and Elizabeth Olsen presented the nominations this morning at a press conference at the W Hotel in Hollywood. “This year’s nominees are a testament to the strength, vitality and diversity of independent, artist-driven filmmaking,” said Film Independent President Josh Welsh. “It’s an astonishingly strong group of films and performances this year and we look forward to celebrating them all at the Spirit Awards.” Carol, Todd Haynes’ 1950s-set romance starring Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara leads all films with six nominations, including nods for both Blanchett and Mara. Beasts of No Nation, Cary Joji Fukunaga’s gripping tale of West African child soldiers, and Spotlight, Tom McCarthy’s drama following the reporters who exposed the abuse scandal within the Catholic Church, are right behind with five nominations each. Spotlight will receive the Robert Altman award, which honors outstanding achievement by an ensemble cast. Anomalisa, Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson’s stop-motion love story, earned four nominations, as did Tangerine, Sean Baker’s iPhone-lensed Sundance entry that follows two transgender sex workers on a wild adventure through the streets of L.A. You can find all of nominations listed below and learn even more about the nominees at spiritawards.com. Only Film Independent Members vote to determine the winners. If you want to be a part of honoring the best of the best in independent film for 2015, join today. For questions about attending the Film Independent Spirit Awards, please contact Jennifer Murby at jmurby@filmindependent.org. Congratulations to all of the nominees! Tom Sveen / Film Independent Blogger BEST FEATURE Anomalisa Producers: Duke Johnson, Charlie Kaufman, Dino Stamatopoulos, Rosa Tran Beasts of No Nation Producers: Daniel Crown, Idris Elba, Cary Joji Fukunaga, Amy Kaufman, Daniela Taplin Lundberg, Riva Marker Carol Producers: Elizabeth Karlsen, Christine Vachon, Stephen Woolley Spotlight Producers: Blye Pagon Faust, Steve Golin, Nicole Rocklin, Michael Sugar Tangerine Producers: Sean Baker, Karrie Cox, Marcus Cox, Darren Dean, Shih-Ching Tsou BEST FIRST FEATURE The Diary of a Teenage Girl Director: Marielle Heller; Producers: Miranda Bailey, Anne Carey, Bert Hamelinck, Madeline Samit James White Director: Josh Mond; Producers: Max Born, Antonio Campos, Sean Durkin, Melody Roscher, Eric Schultz Manos Sucias Director: Josef Kubota Wladyka; Producers: Elena Greenlee, Márcia Nunes Mediterranea Director: Jonas Carpignano; Producers: Jason Michael Berman, Chris Columbus, Jon Coplon, Christoph Daniel, Andrew Kortschak, John Lesher, Ryan Lough, Justin Nappi, Alain Peyrollaz, Gwyn Sannia, Marc Schmidheiny, Victor Shapiro, Ryan Zacarias Songs My Brothers Taught Me; Director/Producer: Chloé Zhao, Producers: Mollye Asher, Nina Yang Bongiovi, Angela C. Lee, Forest Whitaker JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD (Best feature made for under $500,000) Advantageous Writer/Director/Producer: Jennifer Phang; Writer/Producer: Jacqueline Kim; Producers: Robert Chang, Ken Jeong, Moon Molson, Theresa Navarro Christmas, Again Writer/Director/Producer: Charles Poekel Heaven Knows What Directors: Benny Safdie and Josh Safdie; Writers: Ronald Bronstein, Josh Safdie; Producers: Oscar Boyson, Sebastian Bear McClard Krisha Writer/Director/Producer: Trey Edward Shults; Producers: Justin R. Chan, Chase Joliet, Wilson Smith Out of My Hand Writer/Director: Takeshi Fukunaga; Writer/Producer: Donari Braxton; Producer: Mike Fox BEST DIRECTOR Sean Baker Tangerine Cary Joji Fukunaga Beasts of No Nation Todd Haynes Carol Duke Johnson & Charlie Kaufman Anomalisa Tom McCarthy Spotlight David Robert Mitchell It Follows BEST SCREENPLAY Charlie Kaufman Anomalisa Donald Margulies The End of the Tour Tom McCarthy & Josh Singer Spotlight Phyllis Nagy Carol Craig Zahler Bone Tomahawk BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY Jesse Andrews Me and Earl and the Dying Girl Jonas Carpignano Mediterranea Emma Donoghue Room Marielle Heller The Diary of a Teenage Girl John Magary; Story by Russell Harbaugh and Myna Joseph The Mend BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY Cary Joji Fukunaga Beasts of No Nation Michael Gioulakis It Follows Ed Lachman Carol Reed Morano Meadowland Joshua James Richards Songs My Brothers Taught Me BEST EDITING Ronald Bronstein and Benny Safdie Heaven Knows What Tom McArdle Spotlight Nathan Nugent Room Julio C. Perez IV It Follows Kristan Sprague Manos Sucias BEST FEMALE LEAD Cate Blanchett Carol Brie Larson Room Rooney Mara Carol Bel Powley The Diary of a Teenage Girl Kitana Kiki Rodriguez Tangerine BEST MALE LEAD Christopher Abbott James White Abraham Attah Beasts of No Nation Ben Mendelsohn Mississippi Grind Jason Segel The End of the Tour Koudous Seihon Mediterranea BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE Robin Bartlett H. Marin Ireland Glass Chin Jennifer Jason Leigh Anomalisa Cynthia Nixon James White Mya Taylor Tangerine BEST SUPPORTING MALE Kevin Corrigan Results Paul Dano Love & Mercy Idris Elba Beasts of No Nation Richard Jenkins Bone Tomahawk Michael Shannon 99 Homes ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD Spotlight Director: Tom McCarthy Casting Directors: Kerry Barden and Paul Schnee Ensemble Cast: Billy Crudup, Paul Guilfoyle, Neal Huff, Brian d’Arcy James, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Mark Ruffalo, Liev Schreiber, Jamey Sheridan, John Slattery, Stanley Tucci BEST DOCUMENTARY (T)ERROR Directors/Producers: Lyric R. Cabral & David Felix Sutcliffe; Producer: Christopher St. John Best of Enemies Directors/Producers: Robert Gordon and Morgan Neville Heart of a Dog Director/Producer: Laurie Anderson; Producer: Dan Janvey The Look of Silence Director: Joshua Oppenheimer; Producer: Signe Byrge Sørensen Meru Directors/Producers: Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi; Producer: Shannon Ethridge The Russian Woodpecker Director/Producer: Chad Gracia; Producers: Ram Devineni, Mike Lerner BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM (Award given to the director) Embrace of the Serpent (Colombia) Director: Ciro Guerra Girlhood (France) Director: Céline Sciamma Mustang (France, Turkey) Director: Deniz Gamze Ergüven A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence (Sweden) Director: Roy Andersson Son of Saul (Hungary) Director: László Nemes 19th ANNUAL PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD Darren Dean Mel Eslyn Rebecca Green and Laura D. Smith 22nd ANNUAL KIEHL’S SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD God Bless the Child Directors: Robert Machoian & Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck King Jack Director: Felix Thompson Songs My Brothers Taught Me Director: Chloé Zhao 21st TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD Among the Believers Directors: Mohammed Ali Naqvi and Hemal Trivedi Incorruptible Director: Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi A Woman Like Me Directors: Elizabeth Giamatti and Alex Sichel
