Alejandro G. Iñárritu's Birdman
New York Film Festival closing-night feature Birdman or The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance by Alejandro G. Iñárritu topped today's Independent Spirit Awards nominations with six nominations. The film is up for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Editing, and three acting categories, including Best Male Lead for Michael Keaton. Laura Poitras's CITIZENFOUR, Paul Thomas Anderson's Inherent Vice, and Bennett Miller's Foxcatcher are also among today's list of honorees.
Fellow NYFF52 title Whiplash by Damien Chazelle received nominations in the Best Feature and Best Director category, in addition to a Best Supporting Male nomination for J.K. Simmons and Best Editing for Tom Cross.
Laura Poitras's NYFF52 World Premiere CITIZENFOUR received a Best Documentary nomination, as did Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard's 20,000 Days on Earth, which played New Directors/New Films.
In the International category, Ruben Östlund's Force Majeure (Film Society Special Screening), Pawel Pawlikowski's Ida (New York Jewish Film Festival), Lav Diaz's Norte, The End of History (NYFF51), and Andrey Zvyagintsev's Leviathan (NYFF50) received nominations.
Paul Thomas Anderson's Inherent Vice, which screened as NYFF's Centerpiece, will receive this year's Robert Altman Award. The prize is given to one film's director, casting director, and ensemble cast. The Special Distinction Award, meanwhile will go to Bennett Miller's Foxcatcher. NYFF51 favorite Only Lovers Left Alive by Jim Jarmusch received nominations for Best Screenplay and Best Female Lead (Tilda Swinton). Also nominated in the category is Marion Cotillard for her NYFF51 feature The Immigrant, while Darius Khondji received a nomination for Best Cinematography for the film.
New Directors/New Films' Dear White People received nominations in the Spirit Awards' Best First Feature and Best Screenplay categories.
Ira Sachs's Love Is Strange received nominations for Best Feature, Best Screenplay (for Sachs and Mauricio Zacharias), Best Male Lead for John Lithgow, and Best Supporting Male for Alfred Molina. Sachs received the 2014 NewFest Visionary Award at the Walter Reade Theater this past summer.
Filmmaker Ana Lily Amirpour, whose film A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night opened New Directors/New Films earlier this year, has been nominated for Best First Feature as well as for the 21st annual Kiehl's Someone to Watch Award. The prize includes a $25,000 “unrestricted grant.”
Other big Spirit Award nominations included Richard Linklater's Boyhood, Dan Gilroy's Nightcrawler, and Ava DuVernay's Selma. For a full list of 2015 Independent Spirit Award nominations, visit here. The Spirit Awards will take place Saturday, February 21, in Santa Monica, CA.
