The first shots have been fired on this year’s awards season battleground, and The Independent Spirit Awards were responsible. The nominees for this year’s awards – which honor independent, lower budgeted cinema – are an eclectic mix of films that include stop-motion animated dramas, an original Netflix feature film and a surprisingly strong showing for the horror genre.
Industry analysts will be eager to pour over the Independent Spirit Awards nominations for clues to the upcoming Oscar nominations. It is of course important to point out that the awards given out here, and by critics associations across the country, deserve to be taken seriously on their own. These are not just a prelude to the Academy Awards. The Independent Spirit Awards are a separate entity with a distinct significance.
With that said, it does seem likely that Carol – a 1950s period drama about a lesbian romance – will be honored throughout the entire awards season. Todd Haynes’ drama picked up six nominations from the Independent Spirit Awards, including Best Feature, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography and two nominations for Best Actress. Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara will compete in the same category here, which may help clarify for Oscar voters that Mara’s performance is in a leading role, not a supporting one, as has already been debated.
Related: Interview | Todd Haynes on ‘Carol’ and the Dingy 1950s
Other major awards season contenders to make a strong showing include Cary Joji Fukunaga’s Beasts of No Nation, a Netflix Original film, and Tom McCarthy’s Spotlight, about the investigation into the coverup of sexual abuse within the Catholic church. Both films earned five nominations a piece. Spotlight has already been honored with the Robert Altman Award for best ensemble cast.
Perhaps most surprising is the presence of two independent horror movies within the major categories. It Follows, the acclaimed supernatural thriller about a sexually-transmitted haunting, is competing for Best Director, Best Cinematography and Best Editing. Bone Tomahawk, a western about cannibal troglodytes, is also in competition for Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor, for co-star Richard Jenkins.
It seems very unlikely that we will see It Follows very often this awards season, but Bone Tomahawk has developed a cult following already amongst critics who admire its unusual characters, loquacious dialogue and disturbing third act. It is entirely possible that S. Craig Zahler’s film will continue to be a part of the conversation as awards season continues.
For now, though, we will focus on congratulating this year’s Independent Spirit Awards nominees. The complete list is below. The winners will be announced on Saturday, February 27, 2016.
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 DIRECTOR
Sean Baker, Tangerine
Cary Joji Fukunaga, Beasts of No Nation
Todd Haynes, Carol
Charlie Kaufman & Duke Johnson, Anomalisa
Tom McCarthy, Spotlight
David Robert Mitchell, It Follows
BEST SCREENPLAY
Charlie Kaufman, Anomalisa
Donald Margulies, The End of the Tour
Phyllis Nagy, Carol
Tom McCarthy & Josh Singer, Spotlight
S. Craig Zahler, Bone Tomahawk
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
BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Jesse Andrews, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
Joseph Carpignano, Mediterranea
Emma Donoghue, Room
Marielle Heller, The Diary of a Teenage Girl
John Magary, Russell Harbaugh, Myna Joseph, The Mend
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 FEMALE LEAD
Cate Blanchett, Carol
Brie Larson, Room
Rooney Mara, Carol
Bel Powley, The Diary of A Teenage Girl
Kitana Kiki Rodriquez, 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
BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
Robin Bartlett, H.
Marin Ireland, Glass Chin
Jennifer Jason Leigh, Anomalisa
Cynthia Nixon, James White
Mya Taylor, Tangerine
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 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
Embrace 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
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Beasts of No Nation, Cary Joji Fukunaga
Carol, Ed Lachman
It Follows, Michael Gioulakis
Meadlowland, Reed Morano
Songs My Brothers Taught Me, Joshua James Richards
BEST EDITING
Manos Sucias, Kristan Sprague
Heaven Knows What, Ronald Bronstein and Benny Safdie
It Follows, Julio C. Perez IV
Room, Nathan Nugent
Spotlight, Tom McArdle
JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD (Best Feature Under $500,000)
Given to the best feature made for under $500,000. Award given to the writer, director and producer. Executive Producers are not awarded.
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
ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD (Best Ensemble)
Given to one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast
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
KIEHL’S SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD
The 22nd annual Someone to Watch Award, sponsored by Kiehl’s Since 1851, recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Kiehl’s Since 1851.
God Bless the Child
Directors: Robert Machoian & Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck
King Jack
Director: Felix Thompson
Songs My Brothers Taught Me
Director: Chloé Zhao
19th ANNUAL PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD
The 19th annual Producers Award, sponsored by Piaget, 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.
Darren Dean
Mel Eslyn
Rebecca Green and Laura D. Smith
21st TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD
The 21st 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.
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
Top Photo: The Weinstein Company
William Bibbiani (everyone calls him ‘Bibbs’) is Crave’s film content editor and critic. You can hear him every week on The B-Movies Podcast and watch him on the weekly YouTube series Most Craved and What the Flick. Follow his rantings on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.
Ten Bizarre Oscar Nominees:
Ten Utterly Baffling Academy Award Nominees
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Norbit (Best Makeup, 2008)
Norbit was reviled by critics and audiences for being shrill and unfunny, as well as further proof that Eddie Murphy has lost his groove. Murphy played both lead roles in Norbit, thanks to some rather impressive makeup. Too bad that incredible fat-woman getup was in the service of such an awful film.
Image: Paramount
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Click (Best Makeup, 2007)
Click was an Adam Sandler film about a father who finds a magical remote control that lets him control reality; he can “pause” life, and fast-forward through undesirable sections. Sandler appears in old-age makeup in it. I guess that was enough in 2007 to get a nomination.
Image: Columbia
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The Time Machine (Best Makeup, 2003)
H.G. Wells' timeless time travel caper is a great novel, and has made for at least one great film. The 2003 version wasn't it, featuring, as it did, a white-faced S&M-flavored future monster played by Jeremy Irons. WTF?
Image: DreamWorks
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Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius (Best Animated Feature, 2001)
2001 was the first year the Academy decided to enlist a Best Animated Feature award, and the three nominees were the mediocre Shrek, the pretty good Monsters, Inc., and this low-fi, totally middle-of-the-road kiddie comedy. Why Waking Life was not nominated is beyond me.
Image: Paramount
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The Godfather Part III (Best Picture, 1990)
I think after The Godfather and The Godfather Part II were both Oscar winners, the Academy felt obligated to at least nominate Part III.
Image: Paramount
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Doctor Dolittle (Best Picture, 1967)
I've seen this silly and fun musical about a man who can talk to animals. It's colorful, adventurous and enjoyable, and represents a boldly bright form of filmmaking one no longer sees. But Best Picture?
Image: 20th Century Fox
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Babe (Best Picture, 1995)
This one caught everyone off-guard. Babe was a live-action film about a talking pig who learns to herd sheep through his innate politeness. It was up against hefty dramas like Braveheart and Apollo 13. It's a sweet and innocent film that certainly deserved recognition. It's just odd that it did.
Image: Universal
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Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan (Best Screenplay, 2006)
From what I understand, the bulk of Borat, a faux documentary comedy about a pidgin Kazakhstani man interacting with America's underbelly, was mostly improvised, and little was staged. Can improv be considered a great screenplay? I guess so.
Image: 20th Century Fox
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Hamlet (Best Adapted Screenplay, 1996)
My favorite screenwriter was William Shakespeare. Oh wait. He was a playwright. Kenneth Branagh got a nomination for, essentially, leaving everything in, and not altering any dialogue from the oldest known folio of Hamlet. Can I turn in my Folger edition of Macbeth and also get a nom?
Image: Columbia
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The Swarm (Best Costumes, 1978)
The Swarm is a lesser-known Irwin Allen disaster flick about killer bees. Few have seen it, and it's reported to be dumb. It also, evidently, has some amazing costumes!
Image: Warner Bros.
