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Film Independent Spirit Awards 2016: Nominations: CAROL, SPOTLIGHT, ANOMALISA

Film Independent Spirit Awards 2016 Logo

Carol, Spotlight, Anomalisa, and the other nominations of the 2016 Film Independent Spirit Awards have been announced. The 31th Annual Film Independent Spirit Awards “are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers…The Independent Spirit Awards are presented by Film Independent, a non-profit organization dedicated to independent film and independent filmmakers.” The winners of 2016 Film Independent Spirit Awards will be announced live on TV on IFC on February 27, 2016 at 2:00 pm pt / 5:00 pm et.

Leading this year’s nominations are led by Carol with six nominations, followed by Beasts of No Nations and Spotlight with five nominations each, then Anomalisa and Tangerine with four nominations each. Since their release, Carol and Beasts of No Nations have been garnering favorable reviews. The word “masterpiece” has been attached to the stop-motion film Anomalisa while low-budget Tangerine shows a slice of life (through an honest lens) that few people have experienced.

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The official press release for the 2016 Film Independent Spirit Awards nominations:

BEST FEATURE

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

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

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BEST FIRST FEATURE – Award given to the director and producer.

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

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.

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

BEST DIRECTOR

Sean Baker

Tangerine

Cary Joji Fukunaga

Beasts of No Nation

Todd Haynes

Carol

Duke Johnson & Charlie Kaufman

Anomalisa

Tom McCarthy

Spotlight

David Robert Mitchell

It Follows

BEST SCREENPLAY

Charlie Kaufman

Anomalisa

Donald Margulies

The End of the Tour

Tom McCarthy & Josh Singer

Spotlight

Phyllis Nagy

Carol

S. Craig Zahler

Bone Tomahawk

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY

Jesse Andrews

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

Jonas Carpignano

Mediterranea

Emma Donoghue

Room

Marielle Heller

The Diary of a Teenage Girl

John Magary, Story by Russell Harbaugh and Myna Joseph

The Mend

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Cary Joji Fukunaga

Beasts of No Nation

Michael Gioulakis

It Follows

Ed Lachman

Carol

Reed Morano

Meadowland

Joshua James Richards

Songs My Brothers Taught Me

BEST EDITING

Ronald Bronstein and Benny Safdie

Heaven Knows What

Tom McArdle

Spotlight

Nathan Nugent

Room

Julio C. Perez IV

It Follows

Kristan Sprague

Manos Sucias

BEST FEMALE LEAD

Cate Blanchett

Carol

Brie Larson

Room

Rooney Mara

Carol

Bel Powley

The Diary of a Teenage Girl

Kitana Kiki Rodriguez

Tangerine

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 SUPPORTING FEMALE

Robin Bartlett

H.

Marin Ireland

Glass Chin

Jennifer Jason Leigh

Anomalisa

Cynthia Nixon

James White

Mya Taylor

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

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD – 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

BEST DOCUMENTARY – Award given to the director and producer.

(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 a 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 – Award given to the director.

Embrace of 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

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

22nd ANNUAL 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

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

Leave your thoughts on the nominations of the 2016 Film Independent Spirit Awards (via Spiritawards) below in the comments section. For more Film Independent Spirit Awards news coverage, photos, videos, and information, visit our Film Independent Spirit Awards Page, our Movie News Google+, our Movie News Facebook, consider subscribing to us by Email, “following” us on Twitter, Tumblr, Google+ or “liking” us on Facebook for quick updates.

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Rollo Tomasi

Rollo Tomasi is a Connecticut-based film critic, TV show critic, news, and editorial writer. He will have a MFA in Creative Writing from Columbia University in 2025. Rollo has written over 700 film, TV show, short film, Blu-ray, and 4K-Ultra reviews. His reviews are published in IMDb's External Reviews and in Google News. Previously you could find his work at Empire Movies, Blogcritics, and AltFilmGuide. Now you can find his work at FilmBook.
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