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'Moonrise Kingdom,' 'Beasts' & 'Keep the Lights On' Lead Spirit Awards Nominations

Film Independent unveiled its 28th Spirit Award nominations Tuesday with last night's Gothams winner Moonrise Kingdom joining the pack of Best Feature nominees which also includes Beasts of the Southern Wild, Bernie, Keep the Lights On and Silver Linings Playbook.

Wes Anderson also picked up a Best Director nomination along with Benh Zeitlin for Beasts of the Southern Wild, Ira Sachs for Keep the Lights On and David O. Russell for Silver Linings Playbook.

Winners will be announced at the Spirit Awards on Saturday, February 23, 2013. The awards ceremony will be held as a daytime luncheon in a tent on the beach in Santa Monica.

"The nominations this year represent an astonishingly strong group of artists both in front of and behind the camera," said Film Independent Co-president Josh Welsh. "At Film Independent, we nurture artist-driven filmmaking all year long and I can't imagine a more fitting or worthy group of films to celebrate here today."

2013 Spirit Awards Nominees:

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

Beasts of the Southern Wild, Producers: Michael Gottwald, Dan Janvey & Josh Penn

Bernie, Producers: Liz Glotzer, Richard Linklater, David McFadzean, Dete Meserve, Judd Payne, Celine Rattray, Martin Shafer, Ginger Sledge, Matt Williams

Keep the Lights On, Producers: Marie Therese Guirgis, Lucas Joaquin, Ira Sachs

Moonrise Kingdom, Producers: Wes Anderson, Jeremy Dawson, Steven Rales, Scott Rudin

Silver Linings Playbook, Producers: Bruce Cohen, Donna Gigliotti, Jonathan Gordon

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 (Award given to the director and producer):
Fill the Void, DIRECTOR: Rama Burshtein, PRODUCER: Assaf Amir

Gimme the Loot, DIRECTOR: Adam Leon, PRODUCERS: Dominic Buchanan, Natalie Difford, Jamund Washington

Safety Not Guaranteed, DIRECTOR: Colin Trevorrow
PRODUCERS: Derek Connolly, Stephanie Langhoff, Peter Saraf, Colin Trevorrow, Marc Turtletaub

Sound of My Voice, DIRECTOR: Zal Batmanglij, PRODUCERS: Brit Marling, Hans Ritter, Shelley Surpin

The Perks of Being a Wallflower, DIRECTOR: Stephen Chbosky, PRODUCERS: Lianne Halfon, John Malkovich, Russell Smith

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. Award given to the writer, director, and producer. Executive Producers are not awarded.
Breakfast with Curtis, WRITER/DIRECTOR/PRODUCER: Laura Colella

Middle of Nowhere, WRITER/DIRECTOR/PRODUCER: Ava DuVernay, PRODUCERS: Howard Barish, Paul Garnes

Mosquita y Mari, WRITER/DIRECTOR: Aurora Guerrero
PRODUCER: Chad Burris

Starlet WRITER/DIRECTOR: Sean Baker, PRODUCERS: Blake Ashman-Kipervaser, Kevin Chinoy, Patrick Cunningham, Chris Maybach, Francesca Silvestri

The Color Wheel, WRITER/DIRECTOR/PRODUCER: Alex Ross Perry, WRITER: Carlen Altman

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 (Award given to the director and producer):

How to Survive a Plague DIRECTOR: David France
PRODUCERS: David France, Howard Gertler

Marina Abramović: The Artist is Present, DIRECTOR: Matthew Akers, PRODUCERS: Maro Chermayeff, Jeff Dupre

The Central Park Five, DIRECTORS/PRODUCERS: Ken Burns, Sarah Burns, David McMahon

The Invisible War, DIRECTOR: Kirby Dick, PRODUCERS: Tanner King Barklow, Amy Ziering

The Waiting Room, DIRECTOR/PRODUCER: Peter Nicks
PRODUCERS: Linda Davis, William B. Hirsch

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM (Award given to the director):

Amour (France) DIRECTOR: Michael Haneke

Once Upon A Time in Anatolia, (Turkey) DIRECTOR: Nuri Bilge Ceylan

Rust And Bone (France/Belgium) DIRECTOR: Jacques Audiard

Sister (Switzerland) DIRECTOR: Ursula Meier

War Witch (Democratic Republic of Congo)
DIRECTOR: Kim Nguyen

16th ANNUAL PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD – The 16th 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.

Nobody Walks PRODUCER: Alicia Van Couvering
Prince Avalanche, PRODUCER: Derrick Tseng
Stones in the Sun, PRODUCER: Mynette Louie

19th ANNUAL SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD – The 19th 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.

Pincus, DIRECTOR: David Fenster
Gimme the Loot, DIRECTOR: Adam Leon
Electrick Children, DIRECTOR: Rebecca Thomas

STELLA ARTOIS TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD – The 18th 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.

Leviathan, DIRECTOR: Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Véréna Paravel
The Waiting Room, DIRECTOR: Peter Nicks
Only the Young, DIRECTOR: 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

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'Moonrise Kingdom,' 'How To Survive A Plague,' 'Beasts' Win Gothams

Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom won Best Feature tonight at the IFP Gotham Independent Film Awards tonight in New York, while David France's How to Survive a Plague took Best Director. Benh Zeitlin's Beasts of the Southern Wild, meanwhile won two awards including the Breakthrough Director prize and the inaugural Bingham Ray award. more »

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Cahiers du Cinema Top 10: 'Holy Motors,' 'Cosmopolis' Best Of 2012

It's that time, folks! Kick off the end-of-year deluge of Top 10 lists with the best films of the year, as selected by Cahiers du Cinema. Because why bother waiting for the rest of 2012's Oscar hopefuls to screen when you've already had your mind blown by Leos Carax's wondrously WTF Holy Motors?
more »

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Jared Leto's 'Artifact' & 'Beasts Of The Southern Wild' Nominated For IFP Gotham Audience Award

Oscar hopeful Beasts of the Southern Wild and Artifact, actor Jared Leto's documentary — he's credited as Bartholomew Cubbins — about his band 30 Seconds to Mars, are among the five films that have made it to the final round of IFP's Gotham Independent Film Audience Award contest. Beasts, which was directed by Benh Zeitlin, turns out to be the only non-documentary nominated: The other three contenders include Kirby Dick's Invisible War, about rape in the military; Burn, Brenna Sanchez and Tom Putnam's documentary about Detroit firefighters, and Jonathan Kalafer's Once in a Lullaby: The PS 22 Chorus Story, which tells the story of how the fifth-grade chorus at a Staten Island public school came to perform at the 2011 Oscars. more »

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Michael Haneke's 'Amour' Leads European Film Awards Nominations

The European Film Academy unveiled its nominees for the 2012 European Film Awards over the weekend at Spain's Seville European Film Festival, with Michael Haneke's Palme d'Or winner Amour receiving noms in six categories including Best Film and Best Director. Also in the group is worldwide box office smash Intouchables, Thomas Vinterberg's The Hunt, currently playing at L.A.'s AFI Fest, Barbara, Caesar Must Die and Shame, which had its roll-out last year Stateside.

The 2012 European Film Awards Nominations with information provided by organizers:

European Film 2012:

Amour (Love), written & directed by Michael Haneke, Produced by Margaret Menegoz, Stefan Arndt, Veit Heiduschka & Michael Katz, Austria/France/Germany, 127 min

Barbara, Written & Directed by Christian Petzold, Produced by Florian Koerner von Gustorf & Michael Weber, Germany, 105 min

Cesare Deve Morire (Caesar Must Die), Directed by Paolo & Vittorio Taviani, written by Paolo & Vittorio Taviani, in collaboration with Fabio Cavalli, Produced by Grazia Volpi, Italy, 76 min

Intouchables (Untouchable), Written & Directed by Olivier Nakache & Eric Toledano, Produced by Nicolas Duval Adassovsky, Yann Zenou & Laurent Zeitoun, France, 108 min

Jagten (The Hunt), Directed by Thomas Vinterberg, Written by Thomas Vinterberg & Tobias Lindholm, Produced by Morten Kaufmann & Sisse Graum Jørgensen
, Denmark, 111 min

Shame, Directed by Steve McQueen, Written by Steve McQueen & Abi Morgan, Produced by Iain Canning & Emile Sherman, UK, 96 min

European Director 2012:
Nuri Bilge Ceylan for Bir Zamanlar Anadolu'da (Once Upon a Time in Anatolia)

Michael Haneke for Amour (Love)

Steve McQueen for Shame
Paolo & Vittorio Taviani for Cesare Deve Morire (Caesar Must Die)
Thomas Vinterberg for Jagten (The Hunt)



European Actress 2012:

Emilie Dequenne in A Perdre La Raison (Our Children)

Nina Hoss in Barbara

Emmanuelle Riva in Amour (Love)

Margarethe Tiesel in Paradies: Liebe (Paradise: Love)

Kate Winslet in Carnage


European Actor 2012:

François Cluzet & Omar Sy in Intouchables (Untouchable)

Michael Fassbender in Shame

Mads Mikkelsen in Jagten (The Hunt)

Gary Oldman in Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Jean-Louis Trintignant in Amour (Love)


European Screenwriter 2012:

Michael Haneke for Amour (Love)

Tobias Lindholm & Thomas Vinterberg for Jagten (The Hunt)

Cristian Mungiu for Dupa Dealuri (Beyond the Hills)

Olivier Nakache & Eric Toledano for Intouchables (Untouchable)

Roman Polanski & Yasmina Reza for Carnage


Carlo Di Palma European Cinematographer Award 2012:

Sean Bobbitt for Shame
Bruno Delbonnel for Faust

Darius Khondji for Amour (Love)

Gökhan Tiryaki for Bir Zamanlar Anadula'Da (Once Upon a Time in Anatolia)

Hoyte Van Hoytema for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy


European Editor 2012:

Janus Billeskov Jansen & Anne Østerud for Jagten (The Hunt)

Roberto Perpignani for Cesare Deve Morire (Caesar Must Die)

Joe Walker for Shame

European Production Designer 2012: 

Maria Djurkovic for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Niels Sejer for En Kongelig Affaere (A Royal Affair)

Elena Zhukova for Faust


European Composer 2012:

Cyrille Aufort & Gabriel Yared for En Kongelig Affaere(A Royal Affair)

François Couturier for Io Sono Li (Shun Li and the Poet)

George Fenton for The Angels' Share
Alberto Iglesias for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy

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Cinema Eye Honors Fete 2012 Documentaries With 6th Annual Nominees

Documentary nominees take the deserved spotlight with 2012 non-fiction nominations unveiled by organizers of the Cinema Eye Honors Friday at AFI Fest with The Imposter and Searching for Sugar Man each receiving five nominations.
more »

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Joaquin Phoenix Doesn't Want Your Bull**** Oscar Carrot

Joaquin Phoenix has a collection of awards nominations and wins that many actors would look upon with envy, but he is calling, "bullshit." The actor won applause at the Toronto International Film Festival for his role in Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master and he even picked up a Best Actor prize at the Venice Film Festival last month (shared with Philip Seymour Hoffman). But the actor said he thinks the whole process is the "stupidest thing in the whole world."
more »

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Gotham Awards Unveil 22nd Annual Nominees

The Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP) unveiled nominees for the 22nd annual Gotham Independent Film Awards Thursday morning with 26 films named in Best Feature, Best Documentary, Best Ensemble Performance, Breakthrough Director, Best Actor and "Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You" categories. Indie favorites Beasts of the Southern Wild, Bernie, Middle of Nowhere, and Moonrise Kingdom received two nominations each. The Gotham Awards ceremony will be held on Monday, November 26th at Cipriani Wall Street in New York.
more »

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Rejoice! Tina Fey And Amy Poehler Will Host Golden Globes Together

Exciting news: Tina Fey and Amy Poehler have won the hosting gig for the 70th Golden Globes Awards, where the SNL and Baby Mama/Mean Girls dynamic duo will almost certainly bring some pizzazz back to the proceedings following Ricky Gervais's neutered 2012 performance.
more »

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Lincoln Sneak Offers 19th Century Intrigue And 21st Century Oscar Contender

"This has been a journey for me that's unlike nothing I've done before. It's been a real ride and it's still unfinished." So said Steven Spielberg Monday night as he introduced the New York Film Festival's "Surprise Screening," Lincoln, though most everyone in the jammed unruly line(s) getting into the Alice Tully Hall all but knew the film starring Daniel Day-Lewis as Abraham Lincoln and Sally Field as Mary Todd Lincoln, would be the 'surprise.'

The general consensus about the film is that it is a serious contender for Oscar glory, though with the likes of Day-Lewis and a stunning performance by Tommy Lee Jones as radical Republican Congressional leader Thaddeus Stevens, as well as a script by Tony Kushner and director Spielberg, how could it not be?
more »

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Oscars 2013: 71 Countries Submit For Best Foreign-Language Consideration

A record 71 countries, including first-time entrant Kenya, have submitted films for consideration in the Foreign Language Film category for the 85th Academy Awards®. Not joining the list this year is Iran which is boycotting this year's Oscars because of fall out from the anti-Islam video Innocence of Muslims. Last year, Iranian director Asghar Farhadi won the Academy Award for Best Foreign-Language film for A Separation, a first for a filmmaker from that country. The list of contenders follows:
more »

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Glimmers Of Gold: An Early Look At The 2013 Oscar Race

Did you just see that glass of water tremble à la Jurassic Park? Could that distant rumbling be Harvey Weinstein barreling T-Rex style down the endless red carpet leading to the Kodak Theater in February? Indeed, with the announcement this week that Seth McFarlane will be hosting the 85th Academy Awards, Oscar season is now officially under way. Screeners and For Your Consideration ads shall soon be raining down upon us. So this seems as good an occasion as any to assess the buzz around Oscar hopefuls in the major categories. more »

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Oscar Noms Set For Earlier Date As Academy Gives Key Dates

It's September, the unofficial start of the long road to the Academy Awards telecast on February 24, 2013. Already, awards campaigns are in the works and the end of last week's Toronto International Film Festival already has a number of titles in play for those oh-so-very-coveted golden statuettes. One big change this year, the Oscar nominations will come out earlier this year.
more »

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Craig Zadan And Neil Meron To Produce 85th Oscars

Television and theater producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron will produce the 85th Academy Awards, the Academy's president Hawk Koch said Thursday. This will be their first turn at producing the Oscars, which are slated for Sunday, February 24, 2013.
more »

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Academy Sets New Rules for 85th Academy Awards

The rules are out and email has been hit. The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences have restricted the amount of email that can be sent to its members, limiting it to "only one piece of mail and one email per film company" each week. There are also increased restrictions on third parties distributing materials and the number of screenings Academy members can be invited to (mostly without food or drink).
more »