The Spirit Award nominations have been announced, kicking off this year’s Oscar season.
Topping this year’s nominations was 12 Years a Slave picking up seven nominations followed closely by Alexander Payne’s Nebraska. Frances Ha manages only two nominations but captures a coveted Best Feature slot while Fruitvale Station finds a place in the First Feature category (which typically never overlaps with Bets Feature). Before Midnight and Blue Jasmine are both expected to compete for a Best Picture nomination at the Oscars, but suffered from the lack of recognition here. Apart from Frances Ha, there has been chatter about all four of the other Best Feature nominees also carrying over to Oscar. For that matter, a lot of Oscar contenders appear on the below list.
What’s additionally interesting is that some names we’d been talking about as possible nominees for the below films didn’t make the list such as Carey Mulligan and John Goodman for Inside Llewyn Davis, Octavia Spencer for Fruitvale Station, and Matthew McConaughey for Mud. But the successes outweight the failures in this list, which is largely indicative of where the Academy stands regarding this year’s independent slate of films.
Nomination Tallies
(7) 12 Years a Slave
(6) Nebraska
(4) All Is Lost
(3) Blue Jasmine, Fruitvale Station, Inside Llewyn Davis, Short Term 12
The Nominations
Best Feature
12 Years a Slave
All Is Lost
Frances Ha
Inside Llewyn Davis
Nebraska
Best First Feature
Blue Caprice
Concussion
Fruitvale Station
Una Noche
Wadjda
John Cassavetes Award
Computer Chess
Crystal Fairy
Museum Hours
Pit Stop
This Is Martin Bonner
Best Director
Shane Carruth – Upstream Color
J.C. Chandor – All Is Lost
Steve McQueen – 12 Years a Slave
Jeff Nichols – Mud
Alexander Payne – Nebraska
Best Female Lead
Cate Blanchett – Blue Jasmine
Julie Delpy – Before Midnight
Gaby Hoffmann – Crystal Fairy
Brie Larson – Short Term 12
Shailene Woodley – The Spectacular Now
Best Male Lead
Bruce Dern – Nebraska
Chiwetel Ejiofor – 12 Years a Slave
Oscar Isaac – Inside Llewyn Davis
Michael B. Jordan – Fruitvale Station
Matthew McConaughey – Dallas Buyers Club
Robert Redford – All Is Lost
Best Supporting Female
Melonie Diaz – Fruitvale Station
Sally Hawkins – Blue Jasmine
Lupita Nyong’o – 12 Years a Slave
Yolonda Ross – Go for Sisters
June Squibb – Nebraska
Best Supporting Male
Michael Fassbender – 12 Years a Slave
Will Forte – Nebraska
James Gandolfini – Enough Said
Jared Leto – Dallas Buyers Club
Keith Stanfield – Short Term 12
Best Screenplay
12 Years a Slave
Before Midnight
Blue Jasmine
Enough Said
The Spectacular Now
Best First Screenplay
Afternoon Delight
The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete
In a World…
Don Jon
Nebraska
Best Editing
Frances Ha
Museum Hours
Short Term 12
Una Noche
Upstream Color
Best Cinematography
12 Years a Slave
All Is Lost
Computer Chess
Inside Llewyn Davis
Spring Breakers
Best International Film
Blue Is the Warmest Color – France
Gloria – Chile
The Great Beauty – Italy
The Hunt – Denmark
A Touch of Sin – China
Best Documentary
20 Feet from Stardom
The Act of Killing
After Tiller
Gideon’s Army
The Square
Robert Altman Award
Mud
Piaget Producers Award
Toby Halbrooks & James M. Johnston
Jacob Jaffke
Andrea Roa
Frederick Thornton
Someone to Watch Award
The Foxy Merkins – Director: Madeline Olnek
My Sister’s Quinceañera – Director: Aaron Douglas Johnston
Newlyweeds – Director: Shaka King
Stella Artois Truer Than Fiction Award
Kalyanee Mam – A River Changes Course
Jason Osder – Let the Fire Burn
Stephanie Spray & Pacho Velez – Manakamana
Spirit Awards Data
First Awards: 1985 (29)



















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