Doled out the day before the Academy Awards, the Spirits honor independent film, selecting from nominees with budgets under $20 million.<\/b>
\nNEW YORK \u2014 The 34th Film Independent Spirit Awards showered nominations on Bo Burnham\u2019s coming-of-age tale \u201cEighth Grade,\u201d Lynne Ramsay\u2019s existentialist thriller \u201cYou Were Never Really Here\u201d and Paul Schrader\u2019s religious drama \u201cFirst Reformed\u201d in nominees announced Friday .
Each scored four nods including best picture. Also nominated for best picture: Barry Jenkins\u2019 James Baldwin adaptation \u201cIf Beale Street Could Talk\u201d and Debra Granik\u2019s father-daughter tale \u201cLeave No Trace.\u201d
With many of this year\u2019s major Oscar contenders being bigger-budget studio releases like \u201cA Star Is Born\u201d and \u201cBlack Panther,\u201d the Spirits threw their support behind a more idiosyncratic array of independent films from both veteran and first-time filmmakers. The leading nominee was a directorial debut that has collected all of $66,000 at the box office: Jeremiah Zagar\u2019s \u201cWe the Animals.\u201d The film, a lushly poetic story of three biracial brothers, received a leading five nominations including best first feature and the \u201csomeone to watch\u201d award.
Doled out the day before the Academy Awards, the Spirits honor independent film, selecting from nominees with budgets under $20 million. Two other Academy Awards favorites \u2014 Alfonso Cuaron\u2019s \u201cRoma\u201d and Yorgos Lanthimos\u2019 \u201cThe Favourite\u201d \u2014 weren\u2019t eligible for the Spirits\u2019 main categories, but were nominated for best international feature.
That left plenty of room for films like Tamara Jenkins\u2019 \u201cPrivate Life\u201d (three nods, including best director and best screenplay for Jenkins), Paul Dano\u2019s directorial debut \u201cWildlife\u201d (three nods, including best actress for Carey Mulligan) and Jennifer Fox\u2019s childhood sexual abuse chronicle \u201cThe Tale\u201d (three nods, including best first feature) to find attention.
Ethan Hawke in \u201cFirst Reformed.\u201d| A24
Selection committees went especially for \u201cEighth Grade,\u201d including a best actress nomination for its 15-year-old star, Elsie Fisher, and a supporting actor nom for her fictional father, Josh Hamilton. Joaquin Phoenix, the unhinged hit-man of \u201cYou Were Never Really Here,\u201d was nominated for best actor, along with John Chu (\u201cSearching\u201d), Daveed Diggs (\u201cBlindspotting\u201d), Christian Malheiros (\u201cSocrates\u201d) and Ethan Hawke of \u201cFirst Reformed.\u201d
Alongside Mulligan and Fisher, the nominees for best actress were: Glenn Close (\u201cThe Wife\u201d), Toni Collette (\u201cHereditary\u201d), Regina Hall (\u201cSupport the Girls\u201d) and Helena Howard (\u201cMadeline\u2019s Madeline\u201d).
The Spirits\u2019 Robert Altman Award, an ensemble prize given to a film\u2019s director, cast and casting director, will go to Luca Guadagnino\u2019s horror remake \u201cSuspiria.\u201d The Spirits will also, for a second time, give the Bonnie Award (and a $50,000 grant) to a mid-career female director. This year\u2019s nominees are Granik, Jenkins and Karyn Kusama (\u201cDestroyer\u201d).
Gemma Chan and Molly Shannon announced the nominations, which were streamed online, in a press conference from the W Hotel in Hollywood on Friday.
After four straight years of matching best picture winners with the Oscars (\u201cMoonlight,\u201d \u201dSpotlight,\u201d \u201dBirdman,\u201d \u201d12 Years a Slave\u201d), the Spirit Awards last year deviated by choosing Jordan Peele\u2019s \u201cGet Out\u201d for its top award.
The Spirits, presented by the non-profit arts organization Film Independent, will be broadcast live on IFC on February 23.<\/p>\n

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