Two distinctly American odysseys, Andrea Arnold’s teens-on-the-road film “American Honey” and Barry Jenkins’ coming-of-age tale “Moonlight” led the Film Independent Spirit Awards nominations Tuesday with six nods each, including best feature and best director.
Other best-feature candidates are “Manchester by the Sea,” ‘’Jackie” and “Chronic.” Jenny Slate and Edgar Ramirez announced the nominees at an event in Hollywood.
Nominations for “American Honey” also include best female lead for newcomer Sasha Lane and best supporting male for Shia LaBeouf. “Moonlight,” which captured the Robert Altman Award for its ensemble cast, is being recognized for cinematography, editing and screenplay.
Oscar hopefuls are sprinkled throughout each category of the awards recognizing achievements in independent film, and occasionally the two sync up with their winners. Last year’s best independent feature winner “Spotlight” went on to pick up the top prize at the Academy Awards, as did best actress Brie Larson for “Room.”
Both “Moonlight” and “Manchester by the Sea,” Kenneth Lonergan’s New England-set familial drama, are considered top contenders for Oscars.
“Manchester by the Sea’s” five nominations include best actor for Casey Affleck and best supporting actor for Lucas Hedges.
The best actress category also is filled with presumed Oscar darlings such as Annette Bening for “20th Century Women,” Isabelle Huppert for “Elle,” Ruth Negga for “Loving” and Natalie Portman for “Jackie.”
The Independent Spirit Awards also shines a spotlight on comparatively under-the-radar films, including “The Fits,” from first-time director Anna Rose Holmer, Robert Eggers’ “The Witch,” Chris Kelly’s “Other People” and Andrew Ahn’s “Spa Night.”
This year’s 382 film submissions were judged on such guidelines as uniqueness of vision, originality of subject matter, economy of means and percentage of financing from independent sources.
Some films with an indie edge, like the much-lauded Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone musical “La La Land” from director Damien Chazelle, were not eligible due to production budgets north of $30 million. Tom Ford’s “Nocturnal Animals” and Denzel Washington’s “Fences” also were not eligible.
Nominations are chosen by members of Film Independent, which includes critics, filmmakers, actors, festival programmers, past winners and nominees, and members of its board of directors.
Winners will be revealed at a Feb. 25 ceremony, airing live on IFC from Santa Monica. The Academy Awards are presented the next day.
On a separate front, winners of the Spirit Awards Filmmaker Grants will be announced at the Film Independent Spirit Awards Filmmaker Grants and Nominee Brunch on Saturday, January 7, 2017, at BOA Steakhouse in West Hollywood.
“The Spirit Awards Filmmaker Grants enable us to not only recognize great work but also to provide much needed direct financial support to filmmakers,” said Josh Welsh, president of Film Independent. “We’re so appreciative of our grant funders, Kiehl’s Since 1851 and Piaget. Through their funding of the Producers Award, Piaget has been a steadfast supporter of film artists for the last decade.”
2017 FILM INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARD NOMINATIONS
BEST FEATURE
(Award given to the producer. Executive Producers are not awarded.)
American Honey
Producers: Thomas Benski, Jay Van Hoy, Lars Knudsen, Lucas Ochoa, Pouya Shahbazian, Alice Weinberg
Chronic
Producers: Michel Franco, Gina Kwon, Gabriel Ripstein, Moisés Zonana
Jackie
Producers: Darren Aronofsky, Scott Franklin, Ari Handel, Juan de Dios Larraín, Mickey Liddell
Manchester by the Sea
Producers: Lauren Beck, Matt Damon, Chris Moore, Kimberly Steward, Kevin J. Walsh
Moonlight
Producers: Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Adele Romanski
BEST FIRST FEATURE
(Award given to the director and producer)
The Childhood of a Leader
Director: Brady Corbet
Producers: Antoine de Clermont-Tonnerre, Chris Coen, Ron Curtis, Helena Danielsson, Mona Fastvold, István Major
The Fits
Director/Producer: Anna Rose Holmer
Producer: Lisa Kjerulff
Other People
Director: Chris Kelly
Producers: Sam Bisbee, Adam Scott, Naomi Scott
Swiss Army Man
Directors: Daniel Kwan, Daniel Scheinert
Producers: Miranda Bailey, Lawrence Inglee, Lauren Mann, Amanda Marshall, Eyal Rimmon, Jonathan Wang
The Witch
Director: Robert Eggers
Producers: Daniel Bekerman, Jay Van Hoy, Lars Knudsen, Jodi Redmond, Rodrigo Teixeira
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.
Free In Deed
Writer/Director: Jake Mahaffy
Producers: Mike Bowes, Mike S. Ryan, Brent Stiefel
Hunter Gatherer
Writer/Director: Josh Locy
Producers: Michael Covino, April Lamb, Sara Murphy, Isaiah Smallman
Lovesong
Writer/Director: So Yong Kim
Writer/Producer: Bradley Rust Gray
Producers: David Hansen, Alex Lipschultz, Johnny Mac
Nakom
Writer/Director/Producer: TW Pittman
Director/Producer: Kelly Daniela Norris
Writer/Producer: Isaac Adakudugu
Producer: Giovanni Ximénez
Spa Night
Writer/Director: Andrew Ahn
Producers: David Ariniello, Giulia Caruso, Ki Jin Kim, Kelly Thomas
BEST DIRECTOR
Andrea Arnold
American Honey
Barry Jenkins
Moonlight
Pablo Larraín
Jackie
Jeff Nichols
Loving
Kelly Reichardt
Certain Women
BEST SCREENPLAY
Barry Jenkins
Story By Tarell Alvin McCraney
Moonlight
Kenneth Lonergan
Manchester by the Sea
Mike Mills
20th Century Women
Ira Sachs & Mauricio Zacharias
Little Men
Taylor Sheridan
Hell or High Water
BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Robert Eggers
The Witch
Chris Kelly
Other People
Adam Mansbach
Barry
Stella Meghie
Jean of the Joneses
Craig Shilowich
Christine
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Ava Berkofsky
Free In Deed
Lol Crawley
The Childhood of a Leader
Zach Kuperstein
The Eyes of My Mother
James Laxton
Moonlight
Robbie Ryan
American Honey
BEST EDITING
Matthew Hannam
Swiss Army Man
Jennifer Lame
Manchester by the Sea
Joi McMillon, Nat Sanders
Moonlight
Jake Roberts
Hell or High Water
Sebastián Sepúlveda
Jackie
BEST FEMALE LEAD
Annette Bening
20th Century Women
Isabelle Huppert
Elle
Sasha Lane
American Honey
Ruth Negga
Loving
Natalie Portman
Jackie
BEST MALE LEAD
Casey Affleck
Manchester by the Sea
David Harewood
Free In Deed
Viggo Mortensen
Captain Fantastic
Jesse Plemons
Other People
Tim Roth
Chronic
BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
Edwina Findley
Free In Deed
Paulina Garcia
Little Men
Lily Gladstone
Certain Women
Riley Keough
American Honey
Molly Shannon
Other People
BEST SUPPORTING MALE
Ralph Fiennes
A Bigger Splash
Ben Foster
Hell or High Water
Lucas Hedges
Manchester by the Sea
Shia LaBeouf
American Honey
Craig Robinson
Morris from America
ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD - (Given to one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast)
Moonlight
Director: Barry Jenkins
Casting Director: Yesi Ramirez
Ensemble Cast: Mahershala Ali, Patrick Decile, Naomie Harris, Alex Hibbert, André Holland, Jharrel Jerome, Janelle Monáe, Jaden Piner, Trevante Rhodes, Ashton Sanders
BEST DOCUMENTARY (Award given to the director and producer)
13th
Director/Producer: Ava DuVernay
Producers: Spencer Averick, Howard Barish
Cameraperson
Director/Producer: Kirsten Johnson
Producer: Marilyn Ness
I Am Not Your Negro
Director/Producer: Raoul Peck
Producers: Rémi Grellety, Hérbert Peck
O.J.: Made in America
Director/Producer: Ezra Edelman
Producers: Nina Krstic, Tamara Rosenberg, Caroline Waterlow
Sonita
Director: Rokhsareh Ghaem Maghami
Producer: Gerd Haag
Under the Sun
Director: Vitaly Mansky
Producer: Natalya Manskaya
BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM (Award given to the director)
Aquarius
(Brazil)
Director: Kleber Mendonça Filho
Chevalier
(Greece)
Director: Athina Tsangari
My Golden Days
(France)
Director: Arnaud Desplechin
Toni Erdmann
(Germany and Romania)
Director: Maren Ade
Under the Shadow
(Iran and U.K.)
Director: Babak Anvari
FILM GRANT NOMINATIONS
20th ANNUAL PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD – The 20th 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.
Lisa Kjerulff
Jordana Mollick
Melody C. Roscher & Craig Shilowich
23rd ANNUAL KIEHL’S SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD – The 23rd 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.
Andrew Ahn
Director of Spa Night
Claire Carré
Director of Embers
Anna Rose Holmer
Director of The Fits
Ingrid Jungermann
Director of Women Who Kill
22nd TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD – The 22nd 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.
Kristi Jacobson
Director of Solitary
Sara Jordenö
Director of Kiki
Nanfu Wang
Director of Hooligan Sparrow