'Beginners'
'Take Shelter'
'Martha Marcy May Marlene'
'The Artist'
Best feature nods also went to cancer comedy "50-50," family dramas "Beginners" and "The Descendants" and actioner "Drive." Film Independent's noms were announced Tuesday morning at The London in West Hollywood by Anthony Mackie and Kate Beckinsale.
Fox Searchlight - with "The Descendants," "Martha Marcy May Marlene," "Cedar Rapids," "Another Earth" and "Win Win" - led all distribs with 14 nominations, followed by Sony Pictures Classics with nine and TWC and Focus with six each. "Beginners," "The Descendants," "Martha Marcy May Marlene" and "Drive" each scored four noms, and "50-50" scored three.
The 27th edition of the Spirit Awards will be presented Feb. 25 - the day before the Oscars - at its usual location in a beachside tent in Santa Monica. To be eligible, a film must be made by a U.S. producer for under $20 million.
Lead actor nominations went to Jean Dujardin of "The Artist," Michael Shannon of "Take Shelter," Ryan Gosling of "Drive," Demian Bichir for "A Better Life" and Woody Harrelson for "Rampart." Lead actress nods went to Lauren Ambrose, "Think of Me"; Rachel Harris, "Natural Selection"; Adepero Oduye, "Pariah"; Elizabeth Olsen, "Martha Marcy May Marlene"; and Michelle Williams, "My Week with Marilyn."
Hazanavicius and Nichols received noms in the directing category along with Mike Mills ("Beginners"), Alexander Payne ("The Descendants") and Nicolas Winding Refn ("Drive"). J.C. Chandor's "Margin Call" took the Robert Altman Award - given to one film for director, casting director and ensemble cast.
The 49-member Film Independent committee screened 270 movies, resulting in 44 films receiving nominations. Notable omissions of candidates receiving awards consideration included the film "Like Crazy," George Clooney and Judy Greer in "The Descendants," Glenn Close in "Albert Nobbs" and Christopher Plummer in "Beginners."
The Spirit noms were announced following Monday night's Gotham Independent Film Awards in New York, which saw a tie in the Best Feature category between "Beginners" and Terrence Malick's "The Tree of Life," which was not eligible for the spirits.
"Black Swan" won the top award at the Spirits last February.
Four Spirit nominees also picked up kudos Tuesday morning from the New York Film Critics Circle, including "The Artist" as best feature, Jessica Chastain (supporting actress for "Tree of Life," "The Help" and "Take Shelter"), Hazanavicius (director for "The Artist") and Albert Brooks (supporting actor, "Drive").
View the multiple nominations gallery
FEATURE
(Award given to the producer; executive producers are not listed)
"50/50"
Producers: Evan Goldberg, Ben Karlin, Seth Rogen
"Beginners"
Producers: Miranda de Pencier, Lars Knudsen, Leslie Urdang, Dean Vanech, Jay Van Hoy
"Drive"
Producers: Michel Litvak, John Palermo, Marc Platt, Gigi Pritzker, Adam Siegel
"Take Shelter"
Producers: Tyler Davidson, Sophia Lin
"The Artist"
Producer: Thomas Langmann
"The Descendants"
Producers: Jim Burke, Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor
MALE LEAD
Demián Bichir
"A Better Life"
Jean Dujardin
"The Artist"
Ryan Gosling
"Drive"
Woody Harrelson
"Rampart"
Michael Shannon
"Take Shelter"
FEMALE LEAD
Lauren Ambrose
"Think of Me"
Rachael Harris
"Natural Selection"
Adepero Oduye
"Pariah"
Elizabeth Olsen
"Martha Marcy May Marlene"
Michelle Williams
"My Week with Marilyn"
SUPPORTING MALE
Albert Brooks
"Drive"
John Hawkes
"Martha Marcy May Marlene"
Christopher Plummer
"Beginners"
John C. Reilly
"Cedar Rapids"
Corey Stoll
"Midnight in Paris"
SUPPORTING FEMALE
Jessica Chastain
"Take Shelter"
Anjelica Huston
"50/50"
Janet McTeer
"Albert Nobbs"
Harmony Santana
"Gun Hill Road"
Shailene Woodley
"The Descendants"
DIRECTOR
Michel Hazanavicius
"The Artist
Mike Mills
"Beginners
Jeff Nichols
"Take Shelter
Alexander Payne
"The Descendants
Nicolas Winding
"Refn Drive
SCREENPLAY
Joseph Cedar
"Footnote"
Michel Hazanavicius
"The Artist"
Tom McCarthy
"Win Win"
Mike Mills
"Beginners"
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash
"The Descendants"
FIRST FEATURE
(Award given to the director and producer)
"Another Earth"
Director: Mike Cahill
Producers: Mike Cahill, Hunter Gray, Brit Marling, Nicholas Shumaker
"In the Family"
Director: Patrick Wang
Producers: Robert Tonino, Andrew van den Houten, Patrick Wang
"Margin Call"
Director: J.C. Chandor
Producers: Robert Ogden Barnum, Michael Benaroya, Neal Dodson, Joe Jenckes, Corey Moosa, Zachary Quinto
"Martha Marcy May Marlene"
Director: Sean Durkin
Producers: Antonio Campos, Patrick Cunningham, Chris Maybach, Josh Mond
"Natural Selection
Director: Robbie Pickering
Producers: Brion Hambel, Paul Jensen
FIRST SCREENPLAY
Mike Cahill, Brit Marling
"Another Earth"
J.C. Chandor
"Margin Call"
Patrick deWitt
"Terri"
Phil Johnston
"Cedar Rapids"
Will Reiser
"50/50"
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 listed
"Bellflower"
Writer/Director: Evan Glodell
Producers: Evan Glodell, Vincent Grashaw
"Circumstance"
Writer/Director: Maryam Keshavarz
Producers: Karin Chien, Maryam Keshavarz, Melissa M. Lee
"Hello Lonesome"
Writer/Director/Producer: Adam Reid
"Pariah"
Writer/Director: Dee Rees
Producer: Nekisa Cooper
"The Dynamiter"
Writer: Brad Inglesby
Director: Matthew Gordon
Producers: Kevin Abrams, Matthew Gordon, Merilee Holt, Art Jones, Mike Jones, Nate Tuck, Amile Wilson
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Joel Hodge
"Bellflower
Benjamin Kasulke
"The Off Hours
Darius Khondji
"Midnight in Paris
Guillaume Schiffman
"The Artist
Jeffrey Waldron
"The Dynamiter
DOCUMENTARY (Award given to the director)
"An African Election"
Director/Producer: Jarreth Merz
"Bill Cunningham New York"
Director: Richard Press; Producer: Philip Gefter
"The Interrupters"
Director/Producer: Steve James; Producer: Alex Kotlowitz
"The Redemption of General Butt Naked"
Director/Producers: Eric Strauss, Daniele Anastasion
"We Were Here"
Director/Producer: David Weissman
FOREIGN FILM (Award given to the director)
"A Separation"(Iran)
Director: Asghar Farhadi
"Melancholia" (Denmark/Sweden/France/Germany)
Director: Lars von Trier
"Shame" (UK)
Director: Steve McQueen
"The Kid With a Bike" (Belgium/France/Italy)
Directors: Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne
"Tyrannosaur" (UK)
Director: Paddy Considine
SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD
(The 18th annual Someone to Watch Award recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant.)
Simon Arthur
"Silver Tongues"
Mark Jackson
"Without"
Nicholas Ozeki
"Mamitas"
PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD
(The 15th annual Piaget Producers Award 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
"Mosquita y Mari"
Sophia Lin
"Take Shelter"
Josh Mond
"Martha Marcy May Marlene"
TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD
(The 17th 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.)
Heather Courtney
"Where Soldiers Come From"
Danfung Dennis
"Hell and Back Again"
Alma Har'el
"Bombay Beach"
ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD
(Given to one film's director, casting director, and its ensemble cast)
"Margin Call"
Director: J.C. Chandor
Casting Director: Tiffany Little Canfield, Bernard Telsey
Ensemble Cast: Penn Badgley, Simon Baker, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Mary McDonnell, Demi Moore, Zachary Quinto, Kevin Spacey, Stanley Tucci
