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Actress DeWanda Wise is set to make her screenwriting and directorial film debut with the upcoming short film, "Where You Go," to be filmed in NYC this winter.  Wise was the star of the Hallmark movie, "Firelight," alongside Cuba Gooding Jr. Her other film credits include "Spinning into Butter," "Steam," "Precious," and shorts "Pariah" and "Black Swan Theory." She has also performed on the television shows "Boardwalk Empire," "Criminal Intent," "Law & Order Svu," "The Good Wife," "The Mentalist," "The...

Prepping today's Briefing, I realized that there's been such a deluge of year-end lists, awards and nominations for yet more awards that it's best to simply siphon them off into one entry.

The headliner today has to be the pair of "Best of 2011" lists from New York Times critics Manohla Dargis and Ao Scott. You'll find both lists rattled off in alphabetical order at the bottom of this page following a conversation of their favorites and of the state of cinema in general. Two snippets from that conversation, the first from Manohla Dargis:

In recent years smaller distributors and studio subsidiaries have become hip to the Oscar-driven seasons and adjusted accordingly. Now some of the best films turn up in the late winter, early spring. If you lived in New York between January and April, you could have seen Go Go Tales (Abel Ferrara); Cold Weather (Aaron Katz); Poetry (Lee Chang-dong...

At ArcLight Cinemas in Hollywood on Dec. 7, following a screening of "Pariah," actors Adepero Oduye, Kim Wayans, and Aasha Davis, producer Nekisa Cooper, and writer-director Dee Rees participated in a Q&A for Back Stage readers and SAG members."Pariah" is a coming-of-age film about a 17-year-old African-American girl with a knack for poetry who struggles with tension in her family as she slowly embraces her identity as a lesbian. About newcomer Oduye's audition for the lead role of Alike, Rees said, "It was very important that the character had an outsider perspective, an outside experience, and Adepero was able to tap into that feeling of isolation and really bring it to the character. From the moment she walked in the room, she was in the zone. She didn't say too much. She just went into it, and she just had it."On the positive response the film has received since its.

Terrence Malick's non-linear existential meditation on family, "The Tree of Life," earned another accolade yesterday as the African-American Film Critics Association named it their selection for Best Picture of 2011.

In other major categories, "The Help" and the independent film "Pariah" led the way with two wins each, with "The Help"'s Viola Davis and Octavia Spencer winning Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress respectively. "Pariah" took home the award for Best Independent Film, while star Adepero Oduye won for breakout Performance.

Meanwhile, Albert Brooks continued to build Oscar momentum, winning the award for Best Supporting Actor for his villainous turn in "Drive." Woody Harrelson took top honors in the Best Actor category for an even more villainous performance as a corrupt L.A. cop in "Rampart," while Malick was surprisingly stoned in the Best Director category; despite the singular vision of "Tree of Life," the Aafca bestowed the award...

Brad Pitt, Laramie Eppler, Tye Sheridan, The Tree of Life

Best Picture: The Tree of Life

Top Ten Movies: Drive, Pariah, Rampart, Shame, Moneyball, The Descendants, A Better Life, My Week with Marilyn, The Help

Best Foreign Film: Alrick Brown, Kinyarwanda

Best Director: Steve McQueen, Shame

Best Actor: Woody Harrelson, Rampart

Best Actress: Viola Davis, The Help

Best Supporting Actor: Albert Brooks, Drive

Best Supporting Actress: Octavia Spencer, The Help

Breakout Performance: Adepero Oduye, Pariah

Best Documentary: The Black Power Mixtape

Best Screenplay: Ava DuVernay, I Will Follow

Best Song: Jason Reeves & Lenka Kripac, “The Show” from Moneyball

Best Independent Film: Pariah

Cinema Vanguard Award: George Lucas

Aafca Legacy Award: Richard Roundtree

Aafca Horizon: Hattie Winston

Institution Award: Sony Pictures Entertainment

The Tree of Life picture: Merie Wallace / 20th Century Fox...

As we walk down towards the Super Bowl of the movie awards season aka the Academy Awards aka the Oscars, all the various critics associations and guilds release their own kudofest. It can get confusing and beguiling, so I created a nifty package for you -- I compiled all the nominees, winners of various award-giving bodies so you can make informed decision when it comes to predicting the Oscars.

Come and take the Awards Avenue with me!

And here we go (click on each link):

AFI Awards

Boston Society of Film Critics Awards

British Independent Film Awards

Cinema Eye Honors

Critics' Choice (Broadcast Film Critics Association)

Detroit Film Critics

European Film Awards

Gotham Awards

Houston Film Critics Awards

Ida Awards

Independent Spirit Award Nominations

Indiana Film Critics

Las Vegas Film Critics

Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards

National Board of Review

New York Film Critics Circle Awards

New York...

The New York Times brought some of this year's most acclaimed performers together for a trip to the dark side for their magazine's annual Hollywood issue. In a series of videos, spearheaded by the magazine's design director Arem Duplessis and directed by artist Alex Prager, stars including Ryan Gosling ("Drive"), Adepero Oduye ("Pariah"), Gary Oldman ("Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy"), Glenn Close ("Albert Nobbs") and Rooney Mara ("The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"), play baddies in elaborately staged short 'art' films. Last year, you might remember, The Times had actors like James Franco and Jennifer Lawrence act out classic recurring moments in film. Go here to go behind the scenes and learn more about this year's shoot.  ...

Film Independent is excited to screen Dee Rees’ debut feature Pariah on December 8 as one if its Project Involve community screenings. Dee and her producer Nekisa Cooper are both Film Independent Fellows – Nekisa was in Project Involve in 2008-2009, Dee and Nekisa were finalists for the Netflix Find Your Voice Award, and Film Independent awarded a Kodak Film Stock grant to Pariah when it shot in 2009. And Dees’ short film Pariah played the Los Angeles Film Festival in 2007, where it won the Audience Award. Dee was recently named a 2011 Fellow by United States Artists, and Pariah received two nominations for the 2012 Film Independent Spirit Awards ­– the film was nominated for the John Cassevetes Award, and Adepero Oduye was nominated for Best Female Lead.

Recently, Nekisa and Dee came in to talk with the new class of filmmakers in Project Involve. Before the workshop, Film Independent’s Director of Artist Development,...

Clips and interviews from Dee Rees-directed Pariah, starring Adepero Oduye and Kim Wayans The winner of the Cinematography Award and Grand Jury Prize nominee at this year's Sundance Film Festival opens December 28th via Focus Features. We've added 6 new clips as well as interviews with Adepero Oduye, Kim Wayans, Charles Parnell, Pernell Walker, Aasha Davis, director Dee Rees and producer Nekisa Cooper. Also in the cast are Stephanie Andujar, Nina Daniels, Raymond Anthony Thomas and Chanté Lewi. Adepero Oduye, who had earlier starred in the short film, portrays Alike (pronounced ah-lee-kay), a 17-year-old African-American woman who lives with her parents Audrey and Arthur (Kim Wayans and Charles Parnell) and younger sister Sharonda (Sahra Mellesse) in Brooklyn's Fort Greene neighborhood. She has a flair for poetry, and is a good student at her local high school. Alike is quietly but firmly embracing her identity as a lesbian. With the sometimes...

2011 is coming to an end and we’ve brought you our favorite in cinema each month. With December upon us, expect to see a flurry of year-end wrap-ups across the net (including our own). But fret not, there are more than a few surprises left. We’ve got everything from massive blockbusters to indie films from Sundance finally arriving in theaters. Check them all out below and, as always, see your local theater listings to find out when they’ll arrive in your town.

10. Pariah (Dee Rees; Dec. 28th)

Synopsis: A Brooklyn teenager juggles conflicting identities and risks friendship, heartbreak and family in a desperate search for sexual expression.

Trailer

Why You Should See It: Although it premiered at Sundance (where it won the Best Cinematography award), I didn’t have a chance to check out Dee Rees‘ excellent Pariah until Toronto this September. The director recently nabbed the Best Breakthrough trophy at the Gothams,...

Photo: AMPAS // RopeofSilicon.com Just as I did with the month of November, I bring you a guide for the potential Oscar contenders releasing in December 2012 and the number of films previewed has nearly doubled from seven last month to 13 this month (sorry, it was 14, but We Bought a Zoo got the axe). Just as I did with the seven titles last month, I'll give you a few thoughts on each film, a look at the Oscar categories (Best Picture, Actor, Actress, etc.) each film has a chance of being nominated in and the trailer and a link to more information on top of that. Of course, if you want to keep closer tabs on the awards race just keep an eye on my Oscar Contenders section with frequently updated Oscar Predictions, Awards Schedule and my exclusive Oscar Overture section, which tracks a variety of the major precursor awards handed...

I love the Sundance Film Festival. The winners of the fest normally have long legs enough to last all the way until the Oscars. This year, for example, "Pariah" was one of the breakout hits from Sundance, and the Dee Rees coming-of-age flick is being distributed by Focus this month. Its star, Adepero Oduye, recently received the Best Female Lead nomination from the Independent Spirit Awards.

So now, Sundance has unveiled its in-competition slate for 2012 and the films, as always, are quite intriguing. The fest runs from Jan. 19th to the 29th in Park City, Utah. Check out the full list below:

U.S. Dramatic Competition

The world premieres of 16 American narrative feature films.

Beasts of the Southern Wild / U.S.A. (Director: Benh Zeitlin, Screenwriters: Benh Zeitlin, Lucy Alibar) . Waters gonna rise up, wild animals gonna rerun from the grave, and everything south of the levee is goin. under,...

And with that, the Oscar race is on!

Tuesday (Nov 29) morning was a busy one for the films hoping to vie for Academy Awards in February. The New York Film Critics Circle listed its winners and the Film Independent Spirits announced its nominations simultaneously in a couple hours of dizzying Oscar buzz.

Both awards are usually the earliest indication of which films could lead the pack when it comes time to announce the Academy Award nominees in January. The Nyfcc were so early this year, in fact, that they had to delay their awards until after screening David Fincher's "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," to which they awarded nothing.

Perhaps the biggest story coming out of both announcements was the emergence of Michael Hazanavicius's ode to golden-era silent film, "The Artist," as perhaps an early front-runner for Best Picture. The film had earned raves during the festival circuit a few months ago,...

“Don’t Judge a Book by Its Cover” is a proverb whose simple existence proves the fact impressionable souls will do so without fail. This monthly column focuses on the film industry’s willingness to capitalize on this truth, releasing one-sheets to serve as not representations of what audiences are to expect, but as propaganda to fill seats. Oftentimes they fail miserably.

—

December is here and the posters are many. With studio releases being pumped through NY and La during the holidays for award consideration, the number of films coming out this month looks to match the output of a complete year during the 80s. So it’s a surprise how many are worth noting because of their quality and not lack thereof—see Blt & Associates’ attempt to equal Pulp Fiction’s flair with Young Adult and simply look tired and lazy in the process.

It was a struggle to...

Nominations for the 2012 Film Independent Spirit Awards were announced at 8 am this morning, Hollywood Time:

Best Feature: 50/50, Beginners, Drive, Take Shelter, The Artist and The Descendants.

Best Director: Mike Mills (Beginners), Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive), Jeff Nichols (Take Shelter), Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist) and Alexander Payne (The Descendants).

Best First Feature: Another Earth, In The Family, Margin Call, Martha Marcy May Marlene and Natural Selection.

Best Male Lead Performance: Demián Bichir (A Better Life), Jean Dujardin (The Artist), Ryan Gosling (Drive), Woody Harrelson (Rampart) and Michael Shannon (Take Shelter).

Best Female Lead Performance: Lauren Ambrose (Think of Me), Rachel Harris (Natural Selection), Adepero Oduye (Pariah), Elizabeth Olsen (Martha Marcy May Marlene) and Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn).

Best Supporting Male Performance: Albert Brooks (Drive), John Hawkes (Martha Marcy May Marlene), Christopher Plummer (Beginners), John C Reilly (Cedar Rapids) and Corey Stoll (Midnight in Paris).

Best Supporting Female Performance: Jessica Chastain...

Fresh off a big double win at the Gothams (where it won Best Feature and Best Ensemble), Mike Mills' Beginners has nabbed four nominations for the 27th Indie Spirit Awards tying with three other Best Feature hopefuls in Jeff Nichol's Take Shelter, The Descendants and Cannes preemed, Drive. However the four were outmatched by Michel Hazanavicius's The Artist which garnered five noms in Best Feature, Best Director, Best Male Lead, Best Screenplay and Best Cinematography categories. Martha Marcy May Marlene grabbed four noms as well if you add the Upcoming Producer award along with the three noms in the Best First Feature, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor categories. Among the notable nominees worth mentioning and that raised some eyebrows, we have Lauren Ambrose's perf in Tiff shown "Think Of Me" and Rachel Harris' bit in the SXSW preemed "Natural Selection" that landed Best Female...

We already got the results from the voting by the Gotham Independent Film Awards and the New York Film Critics Circle, with "The Artist," "Beginners" and "The Tree of Life" becoming the big winners. And now, we have the nominees for the Independent Spirit Awards, which gives awards to films made for under $20 million. The Best Picture nominees are "50/50," "Beginners," "Drive," "Take Shelter," "The Artist" and "The Descendants." There aren't any big surprises, but just like with many other awards George Clooney's "The Descendants" is the favorite to win. Check out the full list of nominees below. The winners will be announced on February 25th. Best Feature: * 50/50 * Beginners * Drive * Take Shelter * The Artist * The Descendants Best Director: * Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist) * Mike Mills (Beginners) * Jeff Nichols (Take Shelter) * Alexander Payne (The Descendants) * Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive) Best Screenplay: * Joseph Cedar (Footnote) * Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist) * Tom McCarthy (Win Win) * Mike Mills (Beginners) * Alexander Payne,...

Getty Alec Baldwin at the Gotham Awards

Thank goodness it’s warm. That was the standard opening greeting between the actors, directors and producers who attended the 21st annual Gotham Independent Film Awards at Cipriani Wall Street last night.

The balmy weather allowed for more smoke breaks, two press lines (one outdoors) and time to walk between the ceremony venue and the undisclosed after party location (two blocks away).

The night began with a two-floored cocktail party where we spoke with Felicity Jones,...

At a ceremony in Los Angeles this morning, Anthony Mackie and Kate Beckinsale announced the nominees for the 2012 Spirit Awards, which will be handed out on IFC on Saturday, February 25. And one night after it scored Best Film and Best Ensemble at the Gotham Awards, "Beginners" built more awards season momentum by landing four Spirit Award nominations: Best Feature, Best Director (Mike Mills), Best Screenplay (Mike Mills), and Best Supporting Male (Christopher Plummer). That put it one nomination behind the two biggest winners of the morning, "The Artist" and "Take Shelter," which each received five nominations. "Drive," "The Descendants," and "Martha Marcy May Marlene" also received four nominations a piece.

Picking the winners is not going to be easy for the members fo Film Independent this year; there are a lot of very deserving films and filmmakers and some very competitive categories. Take Best International Film. The nominees are "A Separation,...

Film Independent, the non-profit arts organization that produces the Spirit Awards and the Los Angeles Film Festival, announced nominations for the 2012 Film Independent Spirit Awards this morning. Anthony Mackie and Kate Beckinsale served as presenters. Nominees for Best Feature include 50/50, Beginners, Drive, Take Shelter, The Artist and The Descendants.

Margin Call was selected to receive the annual Robert Altman Award, which is bestowed upon one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast.

“The Film Independent Spirit Awards recognize the finest artistic achievements across the broad spectrum of independent filmmaking.from emerging talent working on a shoestring budget to established auteurs,” said Film Independent Senior Director Sean Mc Manus. “The 2012 nominees tell their stories in such an authentic way and reflect the inclusive nature of the independent filmmaking community. We are delighted to support them and expand the audience for their work.”

2012 Film Independent Spirit Award Nominations

Best Feature (Award given to the Producer,...

Chicago – Award season is definitely in full swing and nominations for ceremonies are just starting to be released. For the fan of the indie film, today is a very significant date: the release of the nominations for the 27th Film Independent Spirit Awards.

The Spirit Awards, which were created to provide praise and notoriety to the best in the year of independent film, announced their nominations when Anthony Mackie and Kate Beckinsale read off the nominations at a presentation this morning. Leading the nominations were the films “The Artist” and “Take Shelter,” which both received five nominations.

Take Shelter

Photo credit: Sony Pictures Clssics

The Spirit Awards are known for being a ceremony that can boost independent films in the Oscar race, as well as providing a larger audience and interest in some lesser known films. Out of the past eight winners of the Best Feature Award at the Spirit Awards,...

Film Independent, the non-profit arts organization that produces the The Independent Spirit Awards and the Los Angeles Film Festival, announced nominations for the 2012 Film Independent Spirit Awards this morning. Anthony Mackie and Kate Beckinsale served as presenters. Nominees for Best Feature include 50/50, Beginners, Drive, Take Shelter and The Artist.

Margin Call was selected to receive the annual Robert Altman Award, which is bestowed upon one film's director, casting director and ensemble cast.

"The Independent Spirit Awards recognize the finest artistic achievements across the broad spectrum of independent filmmaking-from emerging talent working on a shoestring budget to established auteurs," said Film Independent Senior Director Sean Mc Manus. "The 2012 nominees tell their stories in such an authentic way and reflect the inclusive nature of the independent filmmaking community. We are delighted to support them and expand the audience for their work."

"Sean Mc Manus focuses primarily on American independents, so it was...

The Artist, Take Shelter, and the other nominations for the 2012 Film Independent Spirit Awards have been announced. The 27th Annual Film Independent Spirit Awards “are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. Winners were typically presented with acrylic glass pyramids containing suspended shoestrings representing the paltry budgets of independent films…The Independent Spirit Awards are presented by Film Independent, a non-profit organization dedicated to independent film and independent filmmakers…The Spirit Awards Nominating Committees selected nominees from 277 submissions this year and applied the following guidelines in determining the nominations: uniqueness of vision, original and provocative subject matter, economy of means (with particular attention paid to total production cost & individual compensation), and percentage of financing from independent sources.”

This year’s award ceremony will be held on February 25, 2012 “at the beach in Santa Monica and broadcast by IFC.”

The full listing of the 2012 Film Independent Spirit Awards nominations is below.

Best Feature (Award...

It’s that time of year for various organizations to recognize some of the best films of 2011. Some of these awards are lesser known, but the Film Independent Spirit Awards, is not one of them. Film Independent which also helps produce the Los Angeles Film Festival has announced the 2012 Spirit Award Nominees.

Margin Call was selected to receive the annual Robert Altman Award, which is bestowed upon one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast.

Having seen Win Win the other day, I really hope that Tom McCarthy wins the award for Best Screenplay, but it will be hard to take the win, especially with the momentum that The Descendants and The Artist are having. As for other films, its no surprise to see 50/50, Drive, Beginners, and the aforementioned The Artist and The Descendants as the nominees for Best Feature. The Spirit Award nominees is just one of the...

The Oscars for movies made for under $20 million, the Independent Spirit Awards, announced their 2012 nominees Tuesday morning. Leading the pack with the most nominations were Jeff Nichols' Michael Shannon-centric Take Shelter and Michel Hazanavicius' black and white silent film The Artist. Those two will compete for the big award, Best Feature Film, with 50/50, The Descendants, Drive and Beginners. Read the rest of the nominees after the jump. Here is the full list of nominees for the 2012 Independent Spirit Awards. The winners will be announced February 25. Best Feature Film: Take Shelter, The Artist, 50/50, The Descendants, Drive, Beginners Best First Feature: Another Earth, In The Family, Margin Call, Martha Marcy May Marlene, Natural Selection Best Male Lead: Demian Bichir (A Better Life), Jean Dujardin (The Artist), Ryan Gosling (Drive), Woody Harrelson (Rampart), Michael Shannon (Take Shelter) Best Female Lead: Lauren Ambrose (Think of Me), Rachael Harris (Natural Selection), Adepero Oduye...

Los Angeles -- The silent movie "The Artist" and the doomsday drama "Take Shelter" led the Spirit Awards honoring independent film on Tuesday with five nominations each, including best picture.

Also in the running for best picture were the cancer tale "50/50"; the action thriller "Drive"; and the family dramas "Beginners" and "The Descendants."

A black-and-white throwback to early Hollywood, "The Artist" also earned a lead-actor nomination for Jean Dujardin as a silent film star whose career crumbles as the sound era takes over in the late 1920s. The film grabbed directing and screenplay nominations for Michel Hazanavicius, along with a cinematography slot for Guillaume Schiffman.

"Take Shelter" star Michael Shannon earned a lead-actor nomination as a family man who comes unhinged amid visions of a coming apocalyptic storm. Co-star Jessica Chastain was nominated for supporting actress, while "Take Shelter" also received nominations for director Jeff Nichols and a prize for emerging producers for Sophia Lin.

"Extra" caught up with stunning actress Kate Beckinsale as she announced the 2012 Independent Spirit Award nominations, asking her about her favorite indie films this year so far - and about starring in the remake of "Total Recall."

Check out the interview!

video platform

Here are the Independent Spirit Award nominations:

Best Feature

"50/50"

"Beginners"

"Drive"

"Take Shelter"

"The Artist"

"The Descendants"

Best Director

Michel Hazanavicius, "The Artist"

Mike Mills, "Beginners"

Jeff Nichols, "Take Shelter"

Alexander Payne,...

With last night’s Gothams Awards ceremony in New York, awards season is now in full swing. Adding to the momentum, Film Independent just announced the nominees for its 27th annual Independent Spirit Awards. Leading the pack with five nominations each is Jeff Nichols’ apocalyptic southern gothic, Take Shelter and Michel Hazanavicius’ silent romance, The Artist. Next in line, receiving four nominations, were Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive and Mike Mills’ Beginners (which split Best Picture with The Tree of Life at the Gothams last night). J.C. Chandor’s Margin Call will receive the annual Robert Altman Award, given each year to one film with an exemplary ensemble cast, and received two additional nominations.

The Spirit Awards take place Saturday, February 25th in Los Angeles. The full nominee list is below.

Best Feature

50/50 – Ben Karlin, Evan Goldberg, Seth Rogen

Beginners – Miranda de Pencier, Lars Knudsen, Jan Van Hoy, Leslie Urdang,...

The awards season kicked off over the past 24 hours with two organisations announcing their winners and one their nominees.

New York Film Critics Circle

The various winners were announced over Twitter during the course of the last few hours with "The Artist" taking the Best Feature award. "Cave of Forgotten Dreams" scored Best Documentary, "A Separation" won Best Foreign Language Film, and "Margin Call" nabbed Best First Feature.

Best Actor went to Brad Pitt ("Moneyball," "The Tree of Life"), Best Actress to Meryl Streel ("The Iron Lady"), Best Supporting Actor to Albert Brooks ("Drive"), Best Supporting Actress to Jessica Chastain ("The Tree of Life," "Take Shelter").

Michel Hazanavicius ("The Artist") won Best Director, Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin ("Moneyball") nabbed best script, and Emmanuel Lubezki ("The Tree of Life") best cinematography.

Gotham Independent Film Awards

Terrence Malick's "The Tree of Life" and Mike Mills's "Beginners" shared the Best...

It’s that time of the year again. Our site will be flooded with top 10 lists, award nominees and previews of Oscar season. But first, the nominations for the 27th Film Independent’s Spirit Awards (my personal favourite award show), were unveiled by Anthony Mackie and Kate Beckinsale this morning. It’s a bit of a surprise that 50/50 has a Best Feature nomination, but apart from that, I can’t really argue with the rest of the names on the list. Check back later in the month for our top 10 lists ranging from favourite scores, soundtracks, first features, trailers and so much more. In the meantime, here is the full list of nominees for the 27th Film Independent’s Spirit Awards.

via The Playlist

Best Feature

“50/50″

“Beginners”

“Drive”

“Take Shelter”

“The Artist”

“The Descendants”

Best Director

Mike Mills – “Beginners”

Nicolas Winding Refn – “Drive”

Jeff Nichols – “Take Shelter”

Michel Hazanavicius – “The Artist...

It's official: Awards season is on, and it's about to be kicked into high gear.

Hot on the heels of yesterday's Gotham Awards, which surprised crowds when the Best Feature honor was bestowed on two movies, "Beginners" and "The Tree of Life," comes the announcement of nominees for the Independent Spirit Awards, which recognizes feature films that are made using "uniqueness of vision" and an "economy of means."

This year's nominations recognized a number of movies and individual performances that have been gaining Oscar buzz, including Elizabeth Olsen's role as a former cult member in "Martha Marcy May Marlene" and Alexander Payne's directorial work on George Clooney vehicle "The Descendents."

The films that made the greatest splash were "Beginners," "Take Shelter" and "Drive," which each scored four nominations. Cancer comedy "50/50" earned an impressive three nominations for Best Feature, Best First Screenplay, and for Anjelica Huston in the Best Supporting Female category.

The Artist and Take Shelter lead the nominations for the Spirit Awards, which honor films made outside of the Hollywood studio system. Close behind with four nominations each are Beginners, The Descendants, Drive, and Martha Marcy May Marlene. Conspicuously absent from the list of nominees are several top Oscar contenders: Midnight in Paris for Best Feature, Woody Allen for Best Director or Best Screenplay, Albert Nobbs star Glenn Close for Best Female Lead, and The Descendants’ George Clooney for Best Male Lead. That the Spirit Award nominees are decided on by a relatively small group of independent film professionals means that Allen,...

December is almost here and awards seasons is finally getting underway with a number of groups announcing their nominees today including the Gotham Independent Film Awards, New York Film Critics Circle, and the Independent Spirit Awards. Of these, the Spirit Awards are probably the most significant in that they can have a small influence on the Oscars, although they usually just end up honouring a lot of the stuff that the Academy ignores. This year, however, there are quite a few well-known nominees including at least three that received a wide theatrical release (50/50, Drive and Midnight in Paris). The movies that seem to be getting the most recognition, however, are Michel Hazanavicius' The Artist and Jeff Nichols' Take Shelter. Both received five nominations, while Drive and Martha Marcy May Marlene were also recognized with four nominations each. I'm a bit surprised that Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris...

The nominations for the 27th Annual Independent Spirit Awards were announced this morning with The Artist and Take Shelter each nabbing five nominations. In addition to The Artist and Take Shelter, Drive, 50/50, The Descendants, and Beginners will duke it out for the top prize. Absent from the Best Feature list is Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris, though the film was recognized in Best Supporting Male (Corey Stoll) and Best Cinematography. Also of note, Elizabeth Olsen and John Hawkes landed nominations for Best Actress and Best Supporting Male for Martha Marcy May Marlene, and Ryan Gosling and Woody Harrelson were both singled out in Best Actor for Drive and Rampart respectively. Hit the jump to check out the full list of nominations. Recognizing the best in independent film, the awards will be handed out on February 25th, the day before the Oscars. Best Feature 50/50 Beginners Drive Take Shelter The Artist...

It’s that time of year when bows of holly are hung, children scribble wish lists for Santa, and films worldwide jockey for notice as award season kicks off! Just a day after the Gotham Awards announced their winners, the 27th Film Independent’s Spirit Awards has announced their nominees.

The Spirit Awards has long aimed to pay tribute to the little films that often unfairly fail to grab Oscar notice. (It’s no coincidence that the Spirit Awards telecast is traditionally held the day before the Oscars ceremony each year.) Of course, with the Academy’s expansion to 10 Best Picture nominees, the past few years have shown an increase in the amount of crossover between the two award shows. Last year both the Academy Awards and the Spirit Awards bestowed nominations (if not awards) to Black Swan, Winter’s Bone, 127 Hours, The King’s Speech, The Kids Are All Right,...

"The Artist" and "Take Shelter" scored the most nominations for the Film Independent's Spirit Awards announced today. Each film received five nods while "Beginners," "Drive," "The Descendants," and "Martha Marcy May Marlene" each received four nominations.

The Spirit Award prides itself in honoring American-made films that are budgeted at under $20 million. Read the nominations below. The winners will be announced at the 27th Annual Film Independent Spirit Awards ceremony on Feb. 25th. You can see the festivities on IFC.

And here are the nominees for the 2012 Film Independent Spirit Awards:

Best Feature (Award given to the Producer)

50/50 - Ben Karlin, Evan Goldberg, Seth Rogen

Beginners - Miranda de Pencier, Lars Knudsen, Jan Van Hoy, Leslie Urdang, Dean Vanech

Drive - Michel Litvak, John Palermo, Marc Platt, Gigi Pritzker, Adam Siegel

Take Shelter - Tyler Davidson, Sophia Lin

The Artist - Thomas Langmann, Emmanuel Montamat

The Descendants - Jim Burke, Alexander Payne,...

By Sean O’Connell

hollywoodnews.com: Mornings won’t get much busier than this at Awards Alley. Even when Oscar reveals his annual nominations, he has the decency of being the only game in town. Tuesday, as the New York Film Critics’ Circle (slowly) revealed their selections for the Best of 2011, the Independent Spirit Awards also took over West Hollywood to pull the curtain back on their full slate of nominees. We have them below.

Just this morning, I was writing about how Terrence Malick’s “The Tree of Life” was collecting a series of small victories that could add up to big wins at the Academy Awards. Malick’s thoughtful drama split Best Feature with “Beginners” at the Gotham Independent Film Awards. And Sight & Sound named it the Best Film of 2011 in its annual poll.

“Tree” co-star Jessica Chastain then won Best Supporting Actress for her “Tree” role (in...

It's an award-based morning as not only were the Gotham Awards handed out last night, the New York Film Critics are in the middle of handing out their awards right now (that list is coming shortly) and now the nominations for Film Independent's 2012 Independent Spirit Awards were announced as Michael Hazanavicius' The Artist and Jeff Nichols' Take Shelter led the pack with five nominations each. The two leaders, however, were followed closely by Beginners, The Descendants, Martha Marcy May Marlene and Drive with four. Of those six, only Martha Marcy May Marlene wasn't nominated for Best Feature as it was replaced by 50/50, which ended up with three nominations. Of the films nominated for Best Feature, my gut tells me it's a battle between The Artist and The Descendants and this just may end up being the first sign as to which of those two may end up being the Oscar favorite.

Nominees for the 27th annual Independent Spirt Awards were announced Tuesday by Kate Beckinsale and Anthony Mackie. Winners will be announced on the afternoon of Saturday, Feb. 25 during a luncheon held on the beach at Santa Monica.  Best Feature  "50/50" "Beginners" "Drive" "Take Shelter" "The Artist" "The Descendants" Best Director Michel Hazanavicius ("The Artist") Mike Mills ("Beginners") Jeff Nichols ("Take Shelter") Alexander Payne ("The Descendants") Nicolas Winding Refn ("Drive") Best Female Lead Lauren Ambrose ("Think of Me") Rachael Harris ("Natural Selection") Adepero Oduye ("Pariah") Elizabeth Olsen ("Martha Marcy May Marlene") Michelle Williams ("My Week with Marilyn") Best Male Lead Demián Bichir ("A Better Life") Jean Dujardin (...

Nominees for the 27th annual Independent Spirt Awards were announced Tuesday by Kate Beckinsale and Anthony Mackie. Winners will be announced on the afternoon of Saturday, Feb. 25 during a luncheon held on the beach at Santa Monica.  Best Feature  "50/50" "Beginners" "Drive" "Take Shelter" "The Artist" "The Descendants" Best Director Michel Hazanavicius ("The Artist") Mike Mills ("Beginners") Jeff Nichols ("Take Shelter") Alexander Payne ("The Descendants") Nicolas Winding Refn ("Drive") Best Female Lead Lauren Ambrose ("Think of Me") Rachael Harris ("Natural Selection") Adepero Oduye ("Pariah") Elizabeth Olsen ("Martha Marcy May Marlene") Michelle Williams ("My Week with Marilyn") Best Male Lead Demián Bichir ("A Better Life") Jean Dujardin (...

At last night’s 21st annual Gotham Independent Film Awards Mike Mills‘ Beginners and Terrence Malick‘s The Tree of Life split the Best Feature prize, closing a night filled with shocking outcomes that included the films with the most nominations, The Descendants and Martha Marcy May Marlene, getting shut out.

Along with the eight awards handed out, see full list of winners below, there were also sightings by some of the most respected talents working today, including Tilda Swinton, Jim Jarmusch, Christopher Plummer and the co-hosts for the night Oliver Platt and Edie Falco.

In addition, career tribute awards were handed out to Charlize Theron, Gary Oldman, Tom Rothman and David Cronenberg.

Read news, features and reviews on many of the winners and nominees at our dedicated Gothams Awards page.

2011 Gotham Award winners:

Best Feature: The Tree of Life, directed by Terrence Malick and Beginners, directed by Mike Mills

Best Documentary: Better This World,...

I hate ties when it comes to handing out awards, especially if you're going to hold an actual awards show. What's the point in declaring the best of something if you can't determine what the best is? That said, I guess it can be looked at as something of a surprise when the 21st annual Gotham Independent Awards hand Best Feature to The Tree of Life and Beginners considering I think most felt The Descendants had it in the bag. And yet, that's not the end of the surprises. Beginners also scored Best Ensemble over the likes of The Descendants and Margin Call, both of which have been praised for their ensemble performances. The buzz this generates for Beginners should certainly help it on its way through Oscar season, hopefully keeping Christopher Plummer's supporting performance a front-runner for Best Supporting Actor at the Oscars. Breakthrough Actor is a bit...

While the reviews for Beginners were almost all positive, very few people have had a chance to see the film. I myself watch over 100 new releases each year and it still took me a few months to catch up on the movie. I finally got around to seeing Beginners this week and called it the most overlooked film of 2011. I guess I can no longer say this. Last night, the Gotham Independent Film Awards surprised everyone with a tie for Best Feature Film with Mike Mills‘ Beginners and Terrence Malick‘s The Tree of Life taking the top prize. Who would have ever guessed?

Best Feature winners from the past several years include Frozen River, Winter’s Bone, and The Hurt Locker. Hit the jump for the full press release.

via The Collider

Gotham Independent Film Awards™

Winners Announced

New York, NY (November 28, 2011) – The Independent Filmmaker Project (Ifp), the nation...

It's not even December, but awards season has officially with the handing out of awards. Last night, the Gotham Independent Film Awards had a tie for Best Feature Film with Mike Mills' Beginners and Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life taking the top prize. Other winners last night included Breakthrough Director for Dee Rees (Pariah), Breakthrough Actor for Felicity Jones (Like Crazy), Best Documentary for Better This World and Best Ensemble for Beginners. While the Gotham isn't a bellwether of how the Oscar race will shake out, it can give an indie picture a welcome boost. Best Feature winners from the past several years include Frozen River, Winter's Bone, and eventual Best Picture Oscar-winner The Hurt Locker. Hopefully, the Gothams have given Beginners and Pariah some awards season momentum (I think The Tree of Life is already on everyone's radar in terms of awareness). Hit the jump for the full press release.

"The Tree of Life" and "Beginners" emerged as the big winners for the 21st Gotham Independent Film Awards. "The Descendants" and "Martha Marcy May Marlene" led the pack with three nominations each but in the end, Terrence Malick's "The Tree of Life" and Mike Mills' "Beginners" ruled the night.

Related Posts:

Ewan McGregor interview for "Beginners" right here

Mike Mills interview for "Beginners right here

The Gotham Independent Film Awards officially kicks off the 2011-12 award season which of course, leads to the granddaddy of the awards season, the Academy Awards!

Hosted by Edie Falco and Oliver Platt, the Gotham Awards also gave career tributes to Charlize Theron, Gary Oldman, David Cronenberg and Tom Rothman.

"Beginners" also took home the Best Ensemble Performance Award, "Better This World" won Best Documentary, Dee Rees who gave us the wonderful "Pariah" won Breakthrough Director, Felicity Jones for "Like Crazy" won Breakthrough Actor,...

We're proud to see some of our stand-out Tfi supported films and Tff alumni recognized in this year's Film Independent Spirit Awards Nominations! Best Supporting Female: Harmony Santana in Gun Hill Road (2009 Tribeca All Access) Best Documentary: The Redemption of General Butt Naked (Directed and Produced by Eric Strauss and Daniele Anastasion, 2010 Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund) John Cassavetes Award (given to the best feature made for under $500,000; award given to the writer, director, and producer): Circumstance (Written/Directed by Maryam Keshavarz and Produced by Karen Chein, Maryam Kesahavarz, and Melissa Lee, 2006 Tribeca All Access grantees) Pariah (Written/Directed by Dee Rees and Produced by Nekisa Cooper, 2007 Tribeca All Access grantees for their documentary project, Eventual Salvation) Truer Than Fiction Award: Bombay Beach (Directed by Alma Har'el and Produced by Alma Har'el and Boaz Yakin, Winner of the Tff 2011 Best Documentary Feature Award) Best of luck to all the nominees!

Spirit Awards nominees lead by The Artist, Take Shelter. Weinstein Co's black and white The Artist shared the most nominations alongside Sony Pictures Classics' drama Take Shelter, with each film being considered for five awards at this year's Spirit Awards. Both The Artist and Take Shelter managed best feature as well as best actor nominations for Jean Dujardin and Michael Shannon respectively. Summit Entertainment's 50/50, Film District's Drive and Fox Searchlight Pictures' The Descendants also received best feature nominations. Other actors contending for the male lead prize are Woody Harrelson for Rampart, Ryan Gosling for Drive and Demián Bichir for A Better Life. Female leads included Lauren Ambrose for Think of Me, Rachael Harris for Natural Selection, Elizabeth Olsen for Martha Marcy May Marlene, Adepero Oduye for Pariah and Michelle Williams for My Week with Marilyn.

What an odd way to open this year's awards season: Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life and Mike Mills's Beginners have tied for Best Feature at Monday night's Gotham Independent Film Awards, though I suppose one could say that Beginners came out of the evening with a slight edge in that it's also taken the Best Ensemble prize. The other films nominated for Best Feature were Jeff Nichols's Take Shelter, Alexander Payne's The Descendants and Kelly Reichardt's Meek's Cutoff.

Best Ensemble Performance: Beginners (Ewan McGregor, Christopher Plummer, Mélanie Laurent, Goran Visnjic, Kai Lennox, Mary Page Keller, Keegan Boos). Also nominated: The Descendants (George Clooney, Shailene Woodley, Beau Bridges, Robert Forster, Judy Greer, Matthew Lillard, Nick Krause, Amara Miller, Mary Birdsong, Rob Huebel), Margin Call (Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Zachary Quinto, Penn Badgley, Simon Baker, Mary McDonnell, Demi Moore, Stanley Tucci, Aasif Mandvi), Martha Marcy May Marlene (Elizabeth Olsen,...

Mélanie Laurent, Ewan McGregor, Beginners The 2011 Gotham Awards were full of surprises: Favorites didn't win; winners' speeches were often interesting, humorous, and/or moving; and some of the jokes were quite funny. (Not every joke was funny, though. "That's a switch, the banks bailing us out," actress Judy Greer told a representative of the Royal Bank of Canada, who, following a pro-bank speech/promo, handed a check to the winning filmmaker of the Best Film Not Playing at a Theater Near You.) Now, despite its three nominations and all the Oscar buzz for filmmaker Alexander Payne and star George Clooney, The Descendants didn't win any awards. That was the biggest surprise of the evening. It's as if the Gotham voters this year were making a point of distancing themselves from obvious Oscar bait. Or perhaps they just didn't find Payne's movie all that great. In the Best Feature category, The Descendants...

The Gotham Awards mark the unofficial beginning of awards season so it's actually kind of appropriate that the big winner at this year's Gothams was a movie called "Beginners." Mike Mills' autobiographical story of a dying father and his grieving son scored two awards at tonight's Gotham Awards: one for Best Ensemble Performance and one for Best Film. In an usual twist, "Beginners"' Best Film award was actually shared with another movie, Terrence Malick's "The Tree of Life." The oh-so-rare awards season tie was a result of the way the Gothams use small juries of filmmakers and industry professionals rather than a large body of voters to select their winners. According to indieWIRE, the Best Film jurors deliberated for two and a half hours before finally settling on the cinematic equivalent of a hung jury.

In general, it was a night of many surprises at the show.