Birdman Soars At The 2015 Spirit Awards

As 2014 winds down, the film industry is kicking into awards season once again, with today revealing nominations for the 2015 Spirit Awards. As many predicted, Birdman is leading the pack with six nominations, including one for Best Picture. Other big winners at the moment include Selma, Nightcrawler and Whiplash.

The Spirit Awards will be held on February 21st, 2015, just one day before the Oscars. Below is a detailed listing of the nominees, check them out and let us know what you think in the comments section.

2015 FILM INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARD NOMINATIONS

BEST FEATURE
(Award given to the Producer. Executive Producers are not awarded.)

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) – Producers: Alejandro G. Iñárritu, John Lesher, Arnon Milchan, James W. Skotchdopole

Boyhood – Producers: Richard Linklater, Jonathan Sehring, John Sloss, Cathleen Sutherland

Love is Strange – Producers: Lucas Joaquin, Lars Knudsen, Ira Sachs, Jayne Baron Sherman, Jay Van Hoy

Selma – Producers: Christian Colson, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Oprah Winfrey

Whiplash – Producers: Jason Blum, Helen Estabrook, David Lancaster, Michael Litvak

BEST DIRECTOR

Damien Chazelle, Whiplash

Ava DuVernay, Selma

Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

Richard Linklater, Boyhood

David Zellner Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter

BEST SCREENPLAY

Scott Alexander & Larry Karaszewski, Big Eyes

J.C. Chandor, A Most Violent Year

Dan Gilroy, Nightcrawler

Jim Jarmusch, Only Lovers Left Alive

Ira Sachs & Mauricio Zacharias, Love is Strange

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 MALE LEAD

André Benjamin, Jimi: All Is By My Side

Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler

Michael Keaton, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

John Lithgow, Love is Strange

David Oyelowo, Selma

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 or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

BEST SUPPORTING MALE

Riz Ahmed, Nightcrawler

Ethan Hawke, Boyhood

Alfred Molina, Love is Strange

Edward Norton, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

J.K. Simmons, Whiplash

BEST FIRST FEATURE (Award given to the director and producer)

A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, Director: Ana Lily Amirpour, Producers: Justin Begnaud, Sina Sayyah

Dear White People, Director/Producer: Justin Simien, Producers: Effie T. Brown, Ann Le, Julia Lebedev, Angel Lopez, Lena Waithe

Nightcrawler, Director: Dan Gilroy, Producers: Jennifer Fox, Tony Gilroy, Jake Gyllenhaal, David Lancaster, Michel Litvak

Obvious Child, Director: Gillian Robespierre, Producer: Elisabeth Holm

She’s Lost Control, Director/Producer: Anja Marquardt, Producers: Mollye Asher, Kiara C. Jones

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY

Desiree Akhavan, Appropriate Behavior

Sara Colangelo, Little Accidents

Justin Lader, The One I Love

Anja Marquardt, She’s Lost Control

Justin Simien, Dear White People

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.

Blue Ruin
Writer/Director: Jeremy Saulnier
Producers: Richard Peete, Vincent Savino, Anish Savjani

It Felt Like Love
Writer/Director/Producer: Eliza Hittman
Producers: Shrihari Sathe, Laura Wagner

Land Ho!
Writers/Directors: Aaron Katz & Martha Stephens
Producers: Christina Jennings, Mynette Louie, Sara Murphy

Man From Reno
Writer/Director: Dave Boyle
Writers: Joel Clark, Michael Lerman
Producer: Ko Mori
Writer/Director/Producer: Chris Mason Johnson
Producer: Chris Martin

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Darius Khondji, The Immigrant

Emmanuel Lubezki, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

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 (Award given to the director and producer)

20,000 Days on Earth
Directors: Iain Forsyth & Jane Pollard
Producers: Dan Bowen, James Wilson

CITIZENFOUR
Director/Producer: Laura Poitras
Producers: Mathilde Bonnefoy, Dirk Wilutzky

Stray Dog
Director: Debra Granik
Producer: Anne Rosellini

The Salt of the Earth
Directors: Juliano Ribeiro Salgado and Wim Wenders
Producer: David Rosier

Virunga
Director/Producer: Orlando von Einsiedel
Producer: Joanna Natasegara

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM (Award given to the director)

Force Majeure
(Sweden)
Director: Ruben Östlund

Ida
(Poland)
Director: Pawel Pawlikowski

Leviathan
(Russia)
Director: Andrey Zvyagintsev

Mommy
(Canada)
Director: Xavier Dolan

Norte, the End of History
(Philippines)
Director: Lav Diaz

Under the Skin
(United Kingdom)
Director: Jonathan Glazer

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD – (Given to one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast)
Inherent Vice
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Casting Director: Cassandra Kulukundis
Ensemble Cast: Josh Brolin, Martin Donovan, Jena Malone, Joanna Newsom, Joaquin Phoenix, Eric Roberts, Maya Rudolph, Martin Short Serena Scott Thomas, Benicio Del Toro, Katherine Waterston, Michael Kenneth Williams, Owen Wilson, Reese Witherspoon

SPECIAL DISTINCTION AWARD

Foxcatcher
Director/Producer: Bennett Miller
Producers: Anthony Bregman, Megan Ellison, Jon Kilik
Writers: E. Max Frye, Dan Futterman
Actors: Steve Carell, Mark Ruffalo, Channing Tatum

18th ANNUAL PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD – The 18th 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.

Chad Burris

Elisabeth Holm

Chris Ohlson

21st ANNUAL KIEHL’S SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD – The 21st 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.

A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, Director: Ana Lily Amirpour

H, Directors: Rania Attieh & Daniel Garcia

The Retrieval, Director: Chris Eska

20th ANNUAL LENSCRAFTERS TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD – The 20th annual Truer Than Fiction Award, sponsored by LensCrafters 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 funded by LensCrafters.

Approaching the Elephant, Director: Amanda Rose Wilder

Evolution of a Criminal, Director: Darius Clark Monroe

The Kill Team, Director: Dan Krauss

The Last Season, Director: Sara Dosa