2009 Independent Spirit Awards Nominations

Posted on Tuesday, December 2nd, 2008 by Peter Sciretta

It’s impossible to pay attention to all the movie awards announcements each year, because there are just so many of them. But the Independent Spirit Awards is one of the second tier (read: non-Academy/Globe) Awards shows that I actually respect and pa attention to. Today the 2009 Indie Spirit nominations were announced. Frozen River and Ballast lead with six nominations each, followed by Rachel Getting Married with five nominations, The Wrestler, Milk, Vicky Cristina Barcelona and The Visitor with three each. Take a look at the full list below:

Best Feature
Ballast
Frozen River
Rachel Getting Married
Wendy and Lucy
The Wrestler

Best First Feature
Afterschool
Medicine for Melancholy
Sangre De Mi Sangre
Sleep Dealer
Synecdoche, New York

Best Director
Ramin Bahrani - Chop Shop
Jonathan Demme - Rachel Getting Married
Lance Hammer - Ballast
Courtney Hunt - Frozen River
Tom McCarthy - The Visitor

Best Male Lead
Javier Bardem - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Richard Jenkins - The Visitor
Sean Penn - Milk
Jeremy Renner - The Hurt Locker
Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler

Best Female Lead
Summer Bishil - Towelhead
Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married
Melissa Leo - Frozen River
Tarra Riggs - Ballast
Michelle Williams - Wendy and Lucy

Best Supporting Male
James Franco - Milk
Anthony Mackie - The Hurt Locker
Charlie McDermott - Frozen River
JimMyron Ross - Ballast
Haaz Sleiman - The Visitor

Best Supporting Female
Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Rosemarie DeWitt - Rachel Getting Married
Rosie Perez - The Take
Misty Upham - Frozen River
Debra Winger - Rachel Getting Married

Best Screenplay
Woody Allen - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck - Sugar
Charlie Kaufman - Synecdoche, New York
Howard A. Rodman - Savage Grace
Christopher Zalla - Sangre De Mi Sangre

Best Cinematography
Maryse Alberti - The Wrestler
Lol Crawley - Ballast
James Laxton - Medicine for Melancholy
Harris Savides - Milk
Michael Simmonds - Chop Shop

Best Documentary
The Betrayal
Encounters at the End of the World
Man on Wire
The Order of Myths
Up the Yangtze

Best Foreign Film
The Class (France)
Gomorra (Italy)
Hunger (U.K./Ireland)
Secret of the Grain (France)
Silent Light (Mexico/France/Netherlands/Germany)

The Spirit Awards Nominating Committee applies the following guidelines in making its selections. Final interpretation of all rules and regulations and eligibility of submissions shall be made by the Spirit Awards Nominating Committee:
1. Uniqueness of vision
2. Original, provocative subject matter
3. Economy of means
4. Percentage of financing from independent sources

via: FSR

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  • Nick O.
    I hope Synecdoche, New York and The Wrestler go home with an award.
  • Agreed
  • I really want to see some of those movies but they aren't released nationwide yet. D:
  • Delta Assault
    No Dark Knight? Unbelievable.
  • I feel like a terrible film geek , I haven't seen nearly enough of the movies.
  • Marc
    Rachel Getting Married got six nominations as well. You forgot the Best First Screenplay category.

    Best First Screenplay
    -----------------------------
    Dustin Lance Black - Milk
    Lance Hammer - Ballast
    Courtney Hunt - Frozen River
    Jonathan Levine - The Wackness
    Jenny Lumet - Rachel Getting Married

    So now it's
    6 nominations - Frozen River, Rachel Getting Married, Ballast
    4 nominations - Milk
    3 nominations - The Wrestler, Vicky Cristina Barcelona, The Visitor

    Also there's one important question: Why is Slumdog Millionaire absent from this list? I'm pretty sure the film complies with all rules. It's not financed by one of the major studios (thus independent) and it's budget is estimated at 14-15 Mio.$ (same range as Milk).
  • I feel like a terrible film geek , I haven't seen nearly enough of these movies.
  • Because it's not an indie film
  • A lot of these aren't even playing in my area so I couldn't if I wanted to.
  • James
    because it wasn't that good
  • Iron Matt
    Go Medicine for Melancholy!
  • Iron Matt
    In what respect does The Dark Knight fall under the category of "Independent Film?"
  • Brandon
    Nice to see Ballast got quite a few nominations. It only played for a week here in DC, yet it was one of the best movies I'll see all year.
  • Justin
    Let the Right One In not nominated for best foreign film = I will not be tuning and all results will be disregarded
  • Daniel
    They might be pegging Slumdog Millionaire as the next There Will Be Blood/No country for old men. Two films that I believe technically met the qualifications last year as well but they felt they were getting enough recognition at the oscars and they would basically just own up on every category - leaving the other indie films with nothing.
  • I totally knew someone would post and cry how TDK was robbed here before I clicked the link. lol
  • I love this award show. It seems like a place where real filmmakers can shine. Plus, it gives them some real exposure for future projects.
  • Personally, I think the inclusion of "Synecdoche, New York" in the Best First Feature category is really reaching. Everyone knows Kaufman's been around for a long time. I know this his DIRECTORIAL debut but Come. On.
  • Delta Assault
    I was merely being sarcastic.
  • Woo, go Rachel! I loved the movie - was very happy to find the Sony’s released the screenplay free for academy consideration. The link is over here:

    http://swritersleague.blogspot.com/2008/12/more-f...
  • Hunger is totally over rated as a film... Visually brutal but the story arch was not explored at all..
  • The absence of Let the Right One In makes my heart sink.
  • Mikey M
    Where is the nomination for Milk as best picture???
  • CURSE10
    Would someone be kind enough to post the New York Screenings for the members. There are always so many extra seats. Plus it's really sad when there is like 3 people left in the theater for a Q&A. I do not want to take seats away from paying members but after the first few nights of screenings they always invite the public to attend the viewings. Thank you.
  • Waltz with Bashir is both an awesome and important movie. It's this years Persepolis (although it's totally different and less accessible) and it will definitely get an oscar nomination, whether as Best Animated Feature or as Best Foreign Film. I don't know why it's not included in this list. By the way the Cannes winner The Class is also a must-see.
  • milan
    WHERE THE FUCK is Waltz with Bashir?????
    No foreign film nomination?Best picture Ive seen this year and its even half documentary!
    This list sucks ;-)
  • Devon
    I'm psyched that The Wackness did end up with a nomination, but blast it since it had nothing to do with Kingsley's insane performance of Dr. Squires.
  • Marc
    Thanks for the link. Synecdoche, New York and Rachel Getting Married are great movies that receive their screenplay nominations. Now I'm curious to see the academy nominations.
  • I agree with your point that the Independent Spirit Awards should drag the little unseen gems into the public. And of course Slumdog Millionaire will receive several oscar nominations. But the exact same thing could be said about movies like Milk, Rachel Getting Married and The Wrestler. The oscar nominations for those movies are basically guaranteed - Sean Penn, Anne Hathaway and Mickey Rourke are set. And Milk is even one of the hottest Best Picture contenders. So I don't really see the pattern here.
  • I can't wait to see The Wrestler. And I still need to see Vicky Christina Barcelona. And Milk too....
  • Cyberwille
    Sean Baker got nominated twice in same category... John Cassavetes Award.. pretty unique, eh?
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