Awards Season: Early Nods Speak Volumes

November 30, 2011

As it does every year, Independent Spirit Award nominations kick off the unofficial start of Awards Season. This year there were two films that topped the list of nominations: The Artist and Take Shelter. Both of those films earned five nominations, but they weren't the only films to be singled out.

The categories and nominations are...

BEST FEATURE

• 50/50
• The Artist
• Beginners
• The Descendants
• Drive
• Take Shelter

BEST DIRECTOR

• Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
• Mike Mills for Beginners
• Jeff Nichols for Take Shelter
• Alexander Payne for The Descendants
• Nicolas Winding Refn for Drive

BEST SCREENPLAY

• Joseph Cedar for Footnote
• Michel Hazanavicius for The Artist
• Tom McCarthy for Win Win
• Mike Mills for Beginners
• Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, and Jim Rash for The Descendants

BEST FIRST FEATURE

• Another Earth
• In the Family
• Margin Call
• Martha Marcy May Marlene
• Natural Selection

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY

Mike Cahill and Brit Marling for Another Earth
• J.C. Chandor for Margin Call
• Patrick deWitt for Terri
• Phil Johnston for Cedar Rapids
• Will Reiser for 50/50

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD
(Given to the best feature made for under $500,000)

• Bellflower
• Circumstance
• Hello Lonesome
• Pariah
• The Dynamiter

BEST FEMALE LEAD

• Lauren Ambrose for Think of Me
• Rachael Harris for Natural Selection
• Adepero Oduye for Pariah
• Elizabeth Olsen for Martha Marcy May Marlene
• Michelle Williams for My Week With Marilyn

BEST MALE LEAD

• Demian Bechir for A Better Life
• Jean Dujardin for The Artist
• Ryan Gosling for Drive
• Woody Harrelson for Rampart
• Michael Shannon for Take Shelter

BEST SUPPORTING MALE

• Albert Brooks for Drive
• John Hawkes for Martha Marcy May Marlene
• Christopher Plummer for Beginners
• John C. Reilly for Cedar Rapids

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE

• Jessica Chastain for Take Shelter
• Anjelica Huston for 50/50
• Janet McTeer for Albert Nobbs
• Harmony Santana for Gun Hill Road
• Shailene Woodley for The Descendants

BEST DOCUMENTARY

• An African Election
• Bill Cunningham New York
• The Interrupters
• The Redemption of General Butt Naked
• We Were Here

BEST FOREIGN FILM

• A Separation (Iran)
• Melancholia (Sweden)
• Shame (U.K.)
• The Kid With a Bike (France)
• Tyrannosaur (U.K.)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

• Joel Hodge for Bellflower
• Benjamin Kasulke for The Off Hours
• Darius Khondji for Midnight in Paris
• Guillame Schiffma for Pariah
• Jeffrey Waldron for The Dynamiter

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD (Given to one film's director, casting director and ensemble cast)

Margin Call

Also announced were the nominees for the three Filmmaker Grant Awards.

Piaget Producers Award

• Chad Burris for Mosquita y Mari
• Sophia Lin for Take Shelter
• Josh Mond for Martha Marcy May Marlene

Acura Someone to Watch Award

• Simon Arthur for Silver Tongues
• Mark Jackson for Without
• Nicholas Ozeki for Mamitas

Lacoste Truer Than Fiction Award is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant attention.

• Heather Courtney for Where Soldiers Come From
• Danfung Dennis for Hell and Back Again
• Alma Har’el for Bombay Beach

Notes and Reactions...

• As previously stated, The Artist and Take Shelter led the way with five nominations, and three times they are up against each other.
• Beginners, The Descendants, Drive, and Martha Marcy May Marlene were right behind with four nods each.
• No actors doubled up on nominations this year, but Michelle Williams and John Hawkes both earned their second Independent Spirit Award nomination in a row.
• On the downside, Win Win and Midnight in Paris were nearly shut out. I was a bit shocked by that.

- C.S.Strowbridge

Filed under: Awards Season, Pariah, Cedar Rapids, Beginners, The Descendants, Midnight in Paris, Drive, Win Win, My Week with Marilyn, Albert Nobbs, Rampart, Margin Call, Melancholia, Shame, Bill Cunningham New York, Circumstance, 50/50, Take Shelter, Another Earth, A Better Life, Bellflower, Terri, Martha Marcy May Marlene, Gun Hill Road, Pariah, The Artist, We Were Here, Natural Selection, The Interrupters, Tyrannosaur, He'arat Shulayim