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Jason Bateman and Sandra Oh announced this year’s nominees for the 2009 Independent Spirit Awards. Lance Hammer’s Ballast and Courtney Hunt’s Frozen River, and Jonathan Demme's Rachel Getting Married are the clear front runners with six nominations each.
The biggest shocks this year: Woody Allen’s Best Screenplay nomination for the shoddy Vicky Christina Barcelona, and Summer Bishil’s Best Female Lead nod for her flat performance in the lurid coming-of-age drama Towelhead.
The awards will be broadcast live on IFC on February 21st.
The complete nominations:
Best Feature
- Ballast
Producers: Lance Hammer, Nina Parikh - Frozen River
Producers: Chip Hourihan, Heather Rae - Rachel Getting Married
Producers: Neda Armian, Jonathan Demme, Marc Platt - Wendy and Lucy
Producers: Larry Fessenden, Neil Kopp, Anish Savjani - The Wrestler
Producers: Darren Aronofsky, Scott Franklin
Best Director
- Ramin Bahrani, Chop Shop
- Jonathan Demme, Rachel Getting Married
- Lance Hammer, Ballast
- Courtney Hunt, Frozen River
- Thomas McCarthy, The Visitor
Best First Feature
- Afterschool
Director: Antonio Campos
Producers: Sean Durkin, Josh Mond - Medicine for Melancholy
Director: Barry Jenkins
Producer: Justin Barber - Sangre de Mi Sangre
Director: Christopher Zalla
Producers: Per Melita, Benjamin Odell - Sleep Dealer
Director: Alex Rivera
Producer: Anthony Bregman - Synecdoche, New York Director: Charlie Kaufman
Producers: Anthony Bregman, Spike Jonze, Charlie Kaufman, Sidney Kimmel
John Cassavetes Award (Given to the best feature made for under $500,000)
- In Search of a Midnight Kiss
Writer/Director: Alex Holdridge
Producers: Seth Caplan and Scoot McNairy
- Prince of Broadway
Director: Sean Baker
Writers: Sean Baker, Darren Dean
Producer: Darren Dean - The Signal
Writer/Directors: David Bruckner, Dan Bush, Jacob Gentry
Producers: Jacob Gentry and Alexander Motiagh - Take Out
Writer/Directors/Producers: Sean Baker and Shih-Ching Tsou - Turn the River
Writer/Director: Chris Eigeman
Producer: Ami Armstrong
Best First Screenplay
- Dustin Lance Black, Milk
- Lance Hammer, Ballast
- Courtney Hunt, Frozen River
- Jonathan Levine, The Wackness
- Jenny Lumet, Rachel Getting Married
Best Screenplay
- Woody Allen, Vicky Christina Barcelona
- Anna Fleck and Ryan Boden, Sugar
- Charlie Kaufman, Synecdoche, New York
- Howard A. Rodman, Savage Grace
- Christopher Zalla, Sangre de Mi Sangre
Best Female Lead
- Summer Bishil, Towelhead
- Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
- Melissa Leo, Frozen River
- Tarra Riggs, Ballast
- Michelle Williams, Wendy and Lucy
Best Male Lead
- Javier Bardem, Vicky Christina Barcelona
- Richard Jenkins, The Visitor
- Sean Penn, Milk
- Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker
- Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler
Best Supporting Female
- Penelope Cruz, Vicky Christina Barcelona
- Rosemarie DeWitt, Rachel Getting Married
- Rosie Perez, The Take
- Misty Upham, Frozen River
- Debra Winger, Rachel Getting Married
Best Supporting Male
- James Franco, Milk
- Anthony Mackie, The Hurt Locker
- Charlie McDermott, Frozen River
- JimMyron Ross, Ballast
- Haaz Sleiman, The Visitor
Best Cinematography
- Maryse Alberti, The Wrestler
- Lol Crowley, Ballast
- James Laxton, Medicine for Melancholy
- Harris Savides, Milk
- Michael Simmonds, Chop Shop
Best Documentary
- The Betrayal (Nerakhoon)
Director: Ellen Kuras and Thavisouk Phrasavath - Encounters at the End of the World
Director: Werner Herzog - Man on Wire
Director: James Marsh - The Order of Myths
Director: Margaret Brown - Up the Yangtze
Director: Yang Chung
Best Foreign Film
- The Class (France)
Director: Laurent Cantet - Gomorrah (Italy)
Director: Matteo Garrone - Hunger (UK/Ireland)
Director: Steve McQueen - Secret of the Grain (France)
Director: Abdellatif Kechiche - Silent Light (Mexico/France/Netherlands/Germany)
Director: Carlos Reygadas
Robert Altman Award (Given to one film's director, casting director and ensemble cast)
- Synecdoche, New York
Director: Charlie Kaufman Casting Director: Jeanne McCarthy
Ensemble Cast: Hope Davis, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Catherine Keener, Samantha Morton, Tom Noonan, Dianne Wiest, Michelle Williams
Someone to Watch Award
- Barry Jenkins, Medicine for Melancholy
- Nina Paley, Sita Sings the Blues
- Lynn Shelton, My Effortless Brilliance
Truer Than Fiction Award
- Margaret Brown, The Order of Myths
- Sacha Gervasi, Anvil! The Story of Anvil
- Darius Marder, Loot
Producers Award
- Lars Knudsen and Joy Van Hoy, Tireless Mountain and I'll Come Running
- Jason Orans, Goodbye Solo and Year of the Fish
- Heather Rae, Frozen River and Ibid
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