YOUR FRIENDS' ACTIVITY

    Spirit Awards Nominations Announced

    Nominees for Best Feature are Fox Searchlight’s Beasts Of The Southern Wild, Millennium Entertainment’s Bernie, Music Box Films’ Keep The Lights On, Gotham Award best picture winner Moonrise Kingdom from Focus Features and The Weinstein Company’s Silver Linings Playbook. Sean Baker’s Starlet will receive the Robert Altman Award, given to a film’s director, casting director, and ensemble cast. Among distributors, Searchlight leads the way with nine nominations overall, followed by Music Box with seven and IFC Films, Focus and Sony Pictures Classics with six apiece. Winners will be announced at the 28th Annual Spirit Awards on February 23. The full list of nominees follows:

    BEST FEATURE
    Beasts of the Southern Wild
    Michael Gottwald, Dan Janvey & Josh Penn (producers)
    Bernie
    Liz Glotzer, Richard Linklater, David McFadzean, Dete Meserve, Judd Payne, Celine Rattray, Martin Shafer, Ginger Sledge, Matt Williams (producers)
    Keep the Lights On
    Marie Therese Guirgis, Lucas Joaquin, Ira Sachs (producers)
    Moonrise Kingdom
    Wes Anderson, Jeremy Dawson, Steven Rales, Scott Rudin (producers)
    Silver Linings Playbook
    Bruce Cohen, Donna Gigliotti, Jonathan Gordon (producers)

    BEST DIRECTOR
    Wes Anderson, Moonrise Kingdom
    Julia Loktev, The Loneliest Planet
    David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook
    Ira Sachs, Keep the Lights On
    Benh Zeitlin, Beasts of the Southern Wild

    BEST SCREENPLAY
    Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola, Moonrise Kingdom
    Zoe Kazan, Ruby Sparks
    Martin McDonagh, Seven Psychopaths
    David O. Russell, Silver Linings Playbook
    Ira Sachs, Keep the Lights On

    BEST FIRST FEATURE
    (Award given to the director and producer)
    Fill the Void
    Rama Burshtein (director); Assaf Amir (producer)
    Gimme the Loot
    Adam Leon (director); Dominic Buchanan, Natalie Difford, Jamund Washington (producers)
    Safety Not Guaranteed
    Colin Trevorrow (director); Derek Connolly, Stephanie Langhoff, Peter Saraf, Colin Trevorrow, Marc Turtletaub (producers)
    Sound of My Voice
    Zal Batmanglij (director); Brit Marling, Hans Ritter, Shelley Surpin (producers)
    The Perks of Being a Wallflower
    Stephen Chbosky (director);  Lianne Halfon, John Malkovich, Russell Smith (producers)

    BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
    Rama Burshtein, Fill the Void
    Derek Connolly, Safety Not Guaranteed
    Christopher Ford, Robot & Frank
    Rashida Jones & Will McCormack, Celeste and Jesse Forever
    Jonathan Lisecki, Gayby

    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 awarded.)
    Breakfast with Curtis
    Laura Colella (writer-director-producer)
    Middle of Nowhere
    Ava DuVernay (writer-director-producer); Howard Barish, Paul Garnes (producers)
    Mosquita y Mari
    Aurora Guerrero (writer-director); Chad Burris (producer)
    Starlet
    Sean Baker (writer-director); Chris Bergoch (writer); Blake Ashman-Kipervaser, Kevin Chinoy, Patrick Cunningham, Chris Maybach, Francesca Silvestri (producers)
    The Color Wheel
    Alex Ross Perry (writer-director-producer); Carlen Altman (writer)

    BEST FEMALE LEAD
    Linda Cardellini, Return
    Emayatzy Corinealdi, Middle of Nowhere
    Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
    Quvenzhané Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild
    Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Smashed

    BEST MALE LEAD
    Jack Black, Bernie
    Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook
    John Hawkes, The Sessions
    Thure Lindhardt, Keep the Lights On
    Matthew McConaughey, Killer Joe
    Wendell Pierce, Four

    BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
    Rosemarie DeWitt, Your Sister’s Sister
    Ann Dowd, Compliance
    Helen Hunt, The Sessions
    Brit Marling, Sound of My Voice
    Lorraine Toussaint, Middle of Nowhere

    BEST SUPPORTING MALE
    Matthew McConaughey, Magic Mike
    David Oyelowo, Middle of Nowhere
    Michael Péna, End of Watch
    Sam Rockwell, Seven Psychopaths
    Bruce Willis, Moonrise Kingdom

    BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
    Yoni Brook, Valley of Saints
    Lol Crawley, Here
    Ben Richardson, Beasts of the Southern Wild
    Roman Vasyanov, End of Watch
    Robert Yeoman, Moonrise Kingdom

    BEST DOCUMENTARY
    (Award given to the director and producer)
    How to Survive a Plague
    David France (director); David France, Howard Gertler (producers)
    Marina Abramović: The Artist is Present
    Matthew Akers (director); Maro Chermayeff, Jeff Dupre (producers)
    The Central Park Five
    Ken Burns, Sarah Burns, David McMahon (directors-producers)
    The Invisible War
    Kirby Dick (director); Tanner King Barklow, Amy Ziering (producers)
    The Waiting Room
    Peter Nicks (director-producer); Linda Davis, William B. Hirsch (producers)

    BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
    (Award given to the director)
    Amour (France), Michael Haneke
    Once Upon A Time in Anatolia (Turkey), Nuri Bilge Ceylan
    Rust And Bone (France/Belgium), Jacques Audiard
    Sister (Switzerland), Ursula Meier
    War Witch (Democratic Republic of Congo), Kim Nguyen

    16th ANNUAL PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD
    (The 16th 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.)
    Nobody Walks, Alicia Van Couvering (producer)
    Prince Avalanche, Derrick Tseng (producer)
    Stones in the Sun, Mynette Louie (producer)

    19th ANNUAL SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD
    (The 19th annual 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.)
    Pincus, David Fenster (director)
    Gimme the Loot, Adam Leon (director)
    Electrick Children, Rebecca Thomas (director)

    STELLA ARTOIS TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD
    (The 18th annual 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.)
    Leviathan, Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Véréna Paravel (directors)
    The Waiting Room, Peter Nicks (director)
    Only the Young, Jason Tippet & Elizabeth Mims (directors)

    ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD
    (Given to one film’s director, casting director, and its ensemble cast)
    Starlet, Sean Baker (director); Julia Kim (casting director); Dree Hemingway, Besedka Johnson, Karren Karagulian, Stella Maeve, James Ransone (cast)

    Get more from Deadline.com: Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Newsletter

    News for You