On November 27, The Independent Spirit Awards announced their nominations. Silver Linings Playbook, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Moonrise Kingdom, Keep the Lights on and Bernie were nominated for the Best Film of the year.
Silver Linings Playbook, which has lost some steam in the last weeks with the release of major studio films, obtained 5 nominations including Best Actress for Jennifer Lawrence and Best Actor for Bradley Cooper.
Having just won the Gotham Award Moonrise Kingdom was also nominated for five awards including Best Film, Best Director for Wes Anderson and Bruce Willis in the Supporting Actor category.
Beasts of the Southern Wild also having just won the at the Gotham Awards was nominated for four awards including Best Actress for Quevenzhane Wallis, Best director for Benh Zeitlin and Best Film.
A couple of surprises included Matthew McConaughey getting nominated for two categories. He was nominated in the lead for his portrayal in Killer Joe and in the supporting category for Magic Mike.
Middle of Nowhere also surprised with a total of four nominations. The Sundance hit is in competition for the John Cassavette's award for best film under $500,000 as well as for the Best Actress award.
Bernie received two nominations while Keep the Lights On received four nominations. Richard Linklater's nominated film was the only director to not receive a best director award nomination. Instead Julia Loktev surprised by getting her film's sole nomination for the The Loneliest Planet.
Full list of Nominees
BEST FEATURE
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Bernie
Keep the Lights On
Moonrise Kingdom
Silver Linings Playbook
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
Fill the Void
Gimme the Loot
Safety Not Guaranteed
Sound of My Voice
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
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.
Breakfast with Curtis
Middle of Nowhere
Mosquita y Mari
Starlet
The Color Wheel
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
How to Survive a Plague
Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present
The Central Park Five
The Invisible War
The Waiting Room
BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
Amour, Michael Haneke
Once Upon A Time in Anatolia, Nuri Bilge Ceylan
Rust And Bone, Jacques Audiard
Sister, Ursula Meier
War Witch, Kim Nguyen
16th ANNUAL PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD
(includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Piaget)
Nobody Walks, Alicia Van Couvering
Prince Avalanche, Derrick Tseng
Stones in the Sun, Mynette Louie
19th ANNUAL SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD
(includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant)
Pincus, David Fenster
Gimme the Loot, Adam Leon
Electrick Children, Rebecca Thomas
STELLA ARTOIS TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD
(includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant)
Leviathan, Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Véréna Paravel
The Waiting Room, Peter Nicks
Only the Young, Jason Tippet & Elizabeth Mims
ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD
(Given to one film's director, casting director, and its ensemble cast)
Starlet
Director: Sean Baker
Casting Director: Julia Kim
Ensemble Cast: Dree Hemingway, Besedka Johnson, Karren Karagulian, Stella Maeve, James Ransone