The 30th Annual Independent Spirit Awards - Updated With Winners

Some more nominees! The Spirit Awards are a little different, and that's why I love them. It's not ALL of the same people nominated over the board as with the more mainstream shows. The only issue is that I never get to watch them because I can never find them - so, despite where I live, there probably won't be any liveblogging, but I'll update when winners are announced! The Awards air February 21, 2015.

BEST FEATURE (Award given to the producer) *Executive Producers are not awarded
Birdman Or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) Alejandro G. Inarritu, John Lesher, Arnon Milchan, James W. Skotchdopole
Boyhood Richard Linklater, Jonathan Sehring, John Sloss, Cathleen Sutherland
Love Is Strange Lucas Joaquin, Lars Knudsen, Ira Sachs, Jayne Baron Sherman, Jay Van Hoy
Selma Christian Colson, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Oprah Winfrey
Whiplash Jason Blum, Helen Estabrook, David Lancaster, Michael Litvak

BEST FIRST FEATURE (Award given to the director and producer)
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night Director: Ana Lily Amirpour; Producers: Justin Begnaud, Sina Sayyah
Dear White People Director/Producer: Justin Simien; Producers: Effie T. Brown, Ann Le, Julia Lebedev, Angel Lopez, Lena Waithe
Nightcrawler Director: Dan Gilroy; Producers: Jennifer Fox, Tony Gilroy, Jake Gyllenhaal, David Lancaster, Michel Litvak
Obvious Child Director: Gillian Robespierre; Producer: Elisabeth Holm
She's Lost Control Director/Producer: Anja Marquardt; Producers: Mollye Asher, Kiara C. Jones

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD (Award given to the best feature made for under $500,000; award given to the writer, director, and producer) *Executive Producers are not awarded
Blue Ruin Writer/Director: Jeremy Saulnier; Producers: Richard Peete, Vincent Savino, Anish Savjani
It Felt Like Love Writer/Director/Producer: Eliza Hittman; Producers: Shrihari Sathe, Laura Wagner
Land Ho! Writers/Directors: Aaron Katz, Martha Stephens; Producers: Christina Jennings, Mynette Louie, Sara Murphy
Man From Reno Writer/Director: Dave Boyle; Writers: Joel Clark, Michael Lerman; Producer: Ko Mori
Test Writer/Director/Producer: Chris Mason Johnson; Producer: Chris Martin

BEST DIRECTOR
Damien Chazelle - WhiplashAva Duvernay - Selma
Alejandro G. Inarritu - Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Richard Linklater - Boyhood
David Zellner - Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter

BEST SCREENPLAY
Scott Alexander, Larry Karaszewski - Big Eyes
J.C. Chandor - A Most Violent Year
Dan Gilroy - Nightcrawler
Jim Jarmusch - Only Lovers Left Alive
Ira Sachs, Mauricio Zacharias - Love Is Strange

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Desiree Akhavan - Appropriate Behavior
Sara Colangelo - Little Accidents
Justin Lader - The One I Love
Anja Marquardt - She's Lost ControlJustin Simien - Dear White People

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Darius Khondji - The Immigrant
Emmanuel Lubezki - Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Sean Porter - It Felt Like Love
Lyle Vincent - A Girl Walks Home Alone At NightBradford Young - Selma

BEST EDITING
Sandra Adair - Boyhood
Tom Cross - Whiplash
John Gilroy - Nightcrawler
Ron Patane - A Most Violent Year
Adam Wingard - The Guest

BEST MALE LEAD
Andre Benjamin - Jimi: All Is By My Side
Jake Gyllenhaal - Nightcrawler
Michael Keaton - Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
John Lithgow - Love Is Strange
David Oyelowo - Selma

BEST FEMALE LEAD
Marion Cotillard - The Immigrant
Rinko Kikuchi - Kumiko, The Treasure HunterJulianne Moore - Still Alice
Jenny Slate - Obvious ChildTilda Swinton - Only Lovers Left Alive

BEST SUPPORTING MALE
Riz Ahmed - NightcrawlerEthan Hawke - Boyhood
Alfred Molina - Love Is Strange
Edward Norton - Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
J.K. Simmons - Whiplash

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
Patricia Arquette - BoyhoodJessica Chastain - A Most Violent YearCarmen Ejogo - Selma
Andrea Suarez Paz - Stand Clear of the Closing Doors
Emma Stone - Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
Force Majeure (Sweden) Director: Ruben Ostlund
Ida (Poland) Director: Pawel Pawlikowski
Leviathan (Russia) Director: Andrey Zvyagintsev
Mommy (Canada) Director: Xavier Dolan
Norte, the End of History (Philippines) Director: Lav Diaz
Under the Skin (United Kingdom) Director: Jonathan Glazer

BEST DOCUMENTARY (Award given to the director and producer)
20,000 Days on Earth Directors: Iain Forsyth, Jane Pollard; Producers: Dan Bowen, James Wilson
CitizenFour Director/Producer: Laura Poitras; Producers: Mathilde Bonnefoy, Dirk Wilutzky
Stray Dog Director: Debra Granik; Producer: Anne Rosellini
The Salt of the Earth Directors: Juliano Ribeiro Salgado, Wim Wenders; Producer: David Rosier
Virunga Director/Producer: Orlando von Einsiedel; Producer: Joanna Natasegara

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD (Award given to one film's director, casting director and ensemble cast)
Inherent Vice Director: Paul Thomas Anderson; Casting Director: Cassandra Kulukundis

SPECIAL DISTINCTION AWARD
Foxcatcher Director/Producer: Bennett Miller; Writers: E. Max Frye, Dan Futterman; Producers: Anthony Bregman, Megan Ellison, Jon Kilik

PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD
The Producers Award, now in its 18th year, honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce quality, independent films. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Piaget.
Chad Burris
Elisabeth Holm

Chris Ohlson

LENSCRAFTERS TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD
The Truer Than Fiction Award, now in its 20th year, is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by LensCrafters.
Sara Dosa - The Last Season
Dan Krauss - The Kill Team
Darius Clark Monroe - Evolution of a Criminal
Amanda Rose Wilder - Approaching the Elephant  

2015 ROGER AND CHAZ EBERT FOUNDATION FELLOWSHIP
This award includes a $10,000 cash grant. It is given to a filmmaker currently participating in a Film Independent Artist Development program with the mission of diversity in mind.
Christina Choe - Currently in active pre-production on her first narrative feature film, Nancy

KIEHL'S SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD
The Someone to Watch Award, now in its 21st year, recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Kiehl's Since 1851.
Ana Lily Amirpour - A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
Rania Attieh & Daniel Garcia - H.
Chris Eska - The Retrieval 

I was sad not to be able to view the Spirit Awards - we don't get the channel on which they air - but I'm glad to see everything. I was hoping some different titles would get the distinctions, but it seems that a lot of the Oscar favourites are staying true here. (Although Nightcrawler snuck its way in there!)