INDIE / INDUSTRY SPIRIT COLLIDE IN 2014 SPIRIT AWARD NOMINATIONS

Birdman, Boyhood and Selma lead the Spirit Award nominations, the first major group to announce its contenders for their picks of the year, and the penultimate group to actually finalise those picks. Six for Birdman, though critics' darling Boyhood may have an edge with a competitive five nominations. Ava DuVernay's Selma also racks up five; as does Nightcrawler, though it's not up for the top award, Best Feature. Birdman, Boyhood and Selma at the top of the pack? Watch for something similar come Oscar time, though not the The Imitation Game snub. Women outnumber men as nominees in four major categories. Winners will be announced on the evening of Saturday the 21st of February. All of Film Independent's impressive choices, including a nomination for my favourite film of 2013, Lav Diaz's Norte, the End of History in the exceptionally strong Best International Film category, right here:


Best Feature

Birdman (Alejandro González Iñárritu, John Lesher, Arnon Milchan and James W. Skotchdopole)

Boyhood (Richard Linklater, Jonathan Sehring, John Sloss and Cathleen Sutherland)

Love Is Strange (Lucas Joaquin, Lars Knudsen, Ira Sachs, Jayne Baron Sherman and Jay van Hoy)

Selma (Christian Colson, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner and Oprah Winfrey)

Whiplash (Jason Blum, Helen Estabrook, David Lancaster and Michael Litvak)

Best Director

Damien Chazelle (Whiplash)

Ava DuVernay (Selma)

Alejandro González Iñárritu (Birdman)

Richard Linklater (Boyhood)

David Zellner (Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter)

Best Male Lead

André Benjamin (Jimi: All Is By My Side)

Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler)

Michael Keaton (Birdman)

John Lithgow (Love Is Strange)

David Oyelowo (Selma)

Best Female Lead

Marion Cotillard (The Immigrant)

Rinko Kikuchi (Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter)

Julianne Moore (Still Alice)

Jenny Slate (Obvious Child)

Tilda Swinton (Only Lovers Left Alive)

Best Supporting Male

Riz Ahmed (Nightcrawler)

Ethan Hawke (Boyhood)

Alfred Molina (Love Is Strange)

Edward Norton (Birdman)

J. K. Simmons (Whiplash)

Best Supporting Female

Patricia Arquette (Boyhood)

Jessica Chastain (A Most Violent Year)

Carmen Ejogo (Selma)

Andrea Suarez Paz (Stand Clear of the Closing Doors)

Emma Stone (Birdman)

Best Screenplay

Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski (Big Eyes)

J. C. Chandor (A Most Violent Year)

Dan Gilroy (Nightcrawler)

Jim Jarmusch (Only Lovers Left Alive)

Ira Sachs and Mauricio Zacharias (Love Is Strange)

Best Cinematography

Darius Khondji (The Immigrant)

Emmanuel Lubezki (Birdman)

Sean Porter (It Felt Like Love)

Lyle Vincent (A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night)

Bradford Young (Selma)

Best Editing

Sandra Adair (Boyhood)

Tom Cross (Whiplash)

John Gilroy (Nightcrawler)

Ron Patane (A Most Violent Year)

Adam Wingard (The Guest)

Best Documentary

20,000 Days on Earth (Dan Bowen, Iain Forsyth, Jane Pollard and James Wilson)

Citizenfour (Mathilde Bonnefoy, Laura Poitras and Dirk Wilutzky)

The Salt of the Earth (Juliano Ribeiro Salgado, David Rosier and Wim Wenders)

Stray Dog (Debra Granik and Anne Rosellini)

Virunga (Joanna Natasegara and Orlando von Einsiedel)

Best International Film

Force Majeure – Sweden (Ruben Östlund)

Ida – Poland (Pawel Pawlikowski)

Leviathan – Russia (Andrey Zvyagintsev)

Mommy – Canada (Xavier Dolan)

Norte, the End of History – Philippines (Lav Diaz)

Under the Skin – UK (Jonathan Glazer)

John Cassavetes Award

Blue Ruin (Richard Peete, Jeremy Saulnier, Vincent Savino and Anish Savjani)

It Felt Like Love (Eliza Hittman, Shrihari Sathe and Laura Wagner)

Land Ho! (Christina Jennings, Aaron Katz,Mynette Louie, Sara Murphy and Martha Stephens)

Man from Reno (Dave Boyle, Joel Clark, Michael Lerman and Ko Mori)

Test (Chris Mason Johnson and Chris Martin)

18^th Annual Piaget Producers Award

Chad Burris

Elisabeth Holm

Chris Ohlson

21^st Annual Kiehl’s Someone to Watch Award

Ana Lily Amirpour (A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night)

Rania Attieh and Daniel Garcia (H.)

Chris Eska (The Retrieval)

20^th Annual Lenscrafters Truer Than Fiction Award

Sara Dosa (The Last Season)

Dan Krauss (The Kill Team)

Darius Clark Monroe (Evolution of a Criminal)

Amanda Rose Wilder (Approaching the Elephant)

Best First Feature

Dear White People (Effie T. Brown, Ann Le, Julia Lebedev, Angel Lopez, Justin Simien and Lena Waithe)

A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night (Ana Lily Amirpour, Justin Begnaud and Sina Sayyah)

Nightcrawler (Jennifer Fox, Dan Gilroy, Tony Gilroy, Jake Gyllenhaal, David Lancaster and Michael Litvak)

Obvious Child (Elisabeth Holm and Gillian Robespierre)

She’s Lost Control (Mollye Asher, Kiara C. Jones and Anja Marquardt)

Best First Screenplay

Desiree Akhavan (Appropriate Behaviour)

Sara Colangelo (Little Accidents)

Justin Lader (The One I Love)

Anja Marquardt (She’s Lost Control)

Justin Simien (Dear White People)

Robert Altman Award

Inherent Vice (Paul Thomas Anderson, Josh Brolin, Benicio del Toro, Martin Donovan, Cassandra Kulukundis, Jena Malone, Joanna Newsom, Joaquin Phoenix, Eric Roberts, Maya Rudolph, Martin Short, Serena Scott Thomas, Katherine Waterston, Michael Kenneth Williams, Owen Wilson and Reese Witherspoon)

Special Distinction Award

Foxcatcher (Anthony Bregman, Steve Carell, Megan Ellison, E. Max Frye, Dan Futterman, Jon Kilik, Bennett Miller, Mark Ruffalo and Channing Tatum)