2011 Film Independent Spirit Award Nominations

Every year, the Spirit Awards celebrate the best in independent film.

The nominees were announced for the 26th Annual Spirits, to be handed out on Saturday, February 26, 2011 at 10pm ET/PT, live on the Independent Film Channel (IFC). After winning the top prize at the Gotham Awards, Winter's Bone leads with seven nominations. Winter's Bone was nominated for Best Film, Best Actress, Best Screenplay, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Cinematography. The Best Film nominees also include 127 Hours, Greenberg, The Kids Are All Right and Black Swan. The Kids Are All Right had five nominations while Black Swan, Greenberg and Rabbit Hole each landed four. 127 Hours, Jack Goes Boating and Tiny Furniture found three each. Rabbit Hole received nominations for its performances from Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart playing grieving parents, as well as a director's nod for John Cameron Mitchell, best known for the 2001 cult hit Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Aaron Schneider‘s directorial debut Get Low, about a town's hermit staging his own funeral, was rewarded with a first feature nomination, in addition to a nod for supporting actor Bill Murray. But star Robert Duvall was left off the list. Perhaps the most surprising film to gain recognition from the Spirit nominations was Noah Baumbach‘s Greenberg, which was named in the Best Film category, as well as best actor for Ben Stiller and best actress for Greta Gerwig. Greenberg, which grossed only $4 million at the box office when it opened this summer, has been mostly ignored by prognosticators closely watching the Oscar race. This year we will watch Best Actress race because that's the only category with a six nominees. Here are the nominees: Best Film 127 Hours Black Swan Greenberg The Kids Are All Right Winter's Bone Best Director Darren Aronofsky – Black Swan Danny Boyle – 127 Hours Lisa Cholodenko – The Kids Are All Right Debra Granik – Winter's Bone John Cameron Mitchell – Rabbit Hole Best Actor Aaron Eckhart – Rabbit Hole Ben Stiller – Greenberg James Franco – 127 Hours John C. Reilly – Cyrus Ronald Bronstein – Daddly Longlegs Best Actress Annette Bening – The Kids Are All Right Greta Gerwig – Greenberg Jennifer Lawrence – Winter's Bone Natalie Portman – Black Swan Nicole Kidman – Rabbit Hole Michelle Williams – Blue Valentine Best Supporting Actor John Hawkes – Winter's Bone Samuel L. Jackson – Mother and Child Bill Murray – Get Low John Ortiz – Jack Goes Boating Mark Ruffalo – The Kids Are All Right Best Supporting Actress Ashley Bell – The Last Exorcism Dale Dickey – Winter's Bone Allison Janney – Life During Wartime Daphne Rubin-Vega – Jack Goes Boating Naomi Watts – Mother and Child Best Foreign Film The King's Speech Kisses Mademoiselle Chambon Of Gods and Men Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives Best Documentary Exit Through the Gift Shop Marwencol Restrepo Sweetgrass Thunder Soul Best First Feature Everything Strange and New Get Low The Last Exorcism Night Catches Us Tiny Furniture John Cassavetes Award (Given to the best feature made for under $500,000, award given to the writer, director, and producer) Daddy Longlegs The Exploding Girl Lbs. Lovers of Hate Obselidia Best Screenplay Lisa Cholodenko, Stuart Blumberg – The Kids Are All Right Debra Granik, Anne Rosellini – Winter's Bone Nicole Holofcener – Please Give David Lindsay-Abaire – Rabbit Hole Todd Solondz – Life During Wartime Best First Screenplay Diane Bell – Obselidia Lena Dunham – Tiny Furniture Nik Fackler – Lovely, Still Robert Glaudini – Jack Goes Boating Dana Adam Shapiro, Evan M. Wiener – Monogamy Best Cinematography Adam Kimmel – Never Let Me Go Matthew Libatique – Black Swan Jody Lee Lipes – Tiny Furniture Michael McDonough – Winter's Bone Harris Savides – Greenberg Robert Altman Award (Given to one film's director, casting director, and its ensemble cast) Please Give Piaget Producers Award In-Ah Lee – Au Revoir Taipei Adele Romanski – The Myth of the American Sleepover Anish Savjani – Meek's Cutoff Acura Someone to Watch Award Mike Ott – Littlerock Laurel Nakadate – The Wolf Knife Hossein Keshavarz – Dog Sweat AVEENO Truer than Fiction Award Ilisa Barbash, Lucien Castaing-Taylor – Sweetgrass Jeff Malmberg – Marwencol Lynn True, Nelson Walker – Summer Pasture The 26th annual Spirit Awards will be held February 26, the night before the Oscars, in Santa Monica with comedian Joel McHale hosting.