Focus Features' early-in-the-year hit "Moonrise Kingdom" has received a nice awards boost in the last 24 hours, first scoring the top prize at the Gotham Awards on Monday night, and then topping today's Spirit Award nominations with five nods, including Best Picture. That tied it with The Weinstein Company's "Silver Linings Playbook," which also received five nominations. Also faring well were Fox Searchlight's "Beasts of the Southern Wild," Music Box Films' "Keep the Lights On," and IFC's "Middle of Nowhere," which each earned four nods. "Middle of Nowhere" is also getting a nice boost from the indie scene, having scored the Breakthrough Actor Gotham Award for its star Emayatzy Corinealdi.
Unlike in years past, don't expect too much crossover between the Spirit Awards, which honors the best in independent film, and Oscars. While "Moonrise Kingdom," "Beasts of the Southern Wild," "Silver Linings Playbook," and "The Sessions" will all feature into the Oscar race, it's doubtful many of the other films will manage to break through. These include the excellent "Bernie," starring Spirit Award nominee Jack Black, and smaller gems like "Sound of My Voice," "Safety Not Guaranteed" and "Celeste and Jesse Forever"--all of which feature powerful female leads. Matthew McConaughey has an outside chance to earn an Oscar nom for his work in "Magic Mike," which was recognized by the Spirit Awards in the Best Supporting Actor category. McConaughey was actually a double nominee at the Spirit Awards, also earning a lead actor nod for his work in "Killer Joe."
The nominations were announced on Tuesday morning at the W Hotel in Hollywood by actors Anna Kendrick, Zoe Saldana, and Common. The awards will be held on February 23, the day before the Oscars. The nominees are determined by a select panel, but winners are voted on by all members of Film Independent.
The Nominees for the 2013 Film Independent Spirit Awards:
BEST FEATURE
“Beasts of the Southern Wild”
“Bernie”
“Keep the Lights On”
“Moonrise Kingdom”
“Silver Linings Playbook”
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
“Fill the Void”
“Gimme the Loot”
“Safety Not Guaranteed”
“Sound of My Voice”
“The Perks of Being a Wallflower”
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.
“Breakfast with Curtis”
“Middle of Nowhere”
“Mosquita y Mari”
“Starlet”
“The Color Wheel”
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
Ben Richardson, "Beasts of the Southern Wild"
Roman Vasyanov, "End of Watch"
Lol Crawley, "Here"
Robert Yeoman, "Moonrise Kingdom"
Yoni Brook, "Valley of Saints"
BEST DOCUMENTARY
"The Central Park Five"
"How to Survive a Plague"
"The Invisible War"
"Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present"
"The Waiting Room"
BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
"Amour"
"Once Upon a Time in Anatolia"
"Rust and Bone"
"Sister"
"War Witch"
JOHN CASSAVETTES AWARD
"Breakfast With Curtis"
"The Color Wheel"
"Middle of Nowhere"
"Mosquita y Mari"
"Starlet"
TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD
"Leviathan"
"Only the Young"
"The Waiting Room"
SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD
Rebecca Thomas, "Electrick Children"
Adam Leon, "Gimme the Loot"
David Finker, "Pincus"
PRODUCERS’ AWARD
"Nobody Walks"
"Prince Avalanche"
"Stones in the Sun"
ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD
“Starlet”
Director: Sean Baker
Casting Director: Julia Kim
Ensemble Cast: Dree Hemingway, Besedka Johnson, Karren Karagulian, Stella Maeve, James Ransone
