Last year was the first year I ever actually sat down and watched the Independent Spirit Awards. The first and won’t be the last. After the enjoyment I got out of that awards ceremony I’d be hard pressed to ever miss it again. They maybe aren’t as “important” as the Oscars, but around here we love our indie gems and to see the proper movies recognized for achievement rather than the wrong ones is always nice.

For the Spirit Awards, all eligible feature films must be at least 70 minutes in length, and the entire cost of a completed project must be under $20 million. A film also must have either screened at a major film festival including Sundance, Toronto or Film Independent’s own Los Angeles Film Festival or had a one-week engagement at a commercial theater.

The mood and celebratory nature of the indie awards is so much more fun too. The guests are all partying and drinking and cussing and some are wearing jeans and a t-shirt rather than the stuffy penguins suits or triptastic ballroom gowns. This year’s ceremony will air live and uncut on IFC on March 5th. The nominees were announced this morning and we’ve got them all posted right here. Best feature is first and the rest of the nominees are stuck under the seats…

Best Feature

• 500 Days Of Summer
• Amreeka
• Precious
• Sin Nombre
• The Last Station

Best Director(s)

• Ethan and Joel Coen – A Serious Man
• Lee Daniels – Precious
• Cary Fukunaga – Sin Nombre
• James Gray – Two Lovers
• Michael Hoffman – The Last Station

Best First Feature

• A Single Man – Tom Ford, dir; Tom Ford, Andrew Miano, Robert Salerno, Chris Weitz, prds.
• Crazy Heart – Scott Cooper, dir; T Bone Burnett, Judy Cairo, Rob Carliner, Scott Cooper, Robert Duvall, prds.
• Easier With Practice – Kyle Patrick Alvarez, dir; Cookie Carosella, pdr.
• Paranormal Activity – Oren Peli, dir. Jason Blum, Oren Peli, prds.
• The Messenger – Oren Moverman, dir. Mark Gordon, Lawrence Inglee, Zack Miller, prds.

Best Screenplay

• Alessandro Camon, Oren Moverman – The Messenger
• Michael Hoffman – The Last Station
• Lee Toland Krieger – The Vicious Kind
• Greg Mottola – Adventureland
• Scott Neustadter, Michael H Weber – 500 Days of Summer

Best First Screenplay

• Sophie Barthes – Cold Souls
• Scott Cooper – Crazy Heart
• Cherien Dabis – Amreeka
• Geoffrey Fletcher – Precious
• Tom Ford, David Scearce – A Single Man

Best Female Lead

• Maria Bello – Downloading Nancy
• Nisreen Faour – Amreeka
• Helen Mirren – The Last Station
• Gwyneth Paltrow – Two Lovers
• Gabourey Sidibe – Precious

Best Male Lead

• Jeff Bridges – Crazy Heart
• Colin Firth – A Single Man
• Joseph Gordon-Levitt – 500 Days of Summer
• Souleymane Sy – Goodbye Solo
• Adam Scott – The Vicious Kind

Best Supporting Female

• Dina Korzun – Cold Souls
• Mo’Nique – Precious
• Samantha Morton – The Messenger
• Natalie Press – Fifty Dead Men Walking
• Mia Wasikowska – That Evening Sun

Best Supporting Male

• Jermaine Clement – Gentleman Broncos
• Woody Harrelson – The Messenger
• Christian McKay – Me And Orson Welles
• Raymond McKinnon – That Evening Sun
• Christopher Plummer – The Last Station

Best Foreign Film

• A Prophet (France) – Jacques Audiard
• An Education (UK/France) – Lone Scherfig
• Everlasting Moments (Sweden) – Jan Troell
• Mother (South Korea) Bong Joon-ho
• The Maid (Chile) – Sebastian Silva

Best Documentary

• Anvil! The Story Of Anvil – Sacha Gervasi
• Food, Inc – Robert Kenner
• More Than A Game – Kristopher Bellman
• October Country – Donal Mosher, Michael Palmieri
• Which Way Home – Rebecca Cammisa

Best Cinematography

• Roger Deakins – A Serious Man
• Adriano Goldman – Sin Nombre
• Anne Misawa – Treeless Mountain
• Andrij Parekh – Cold Souls
• Peter Zeitlinger – Bad Lieutenant: Post Of Call New Orleans

John Cassavetes Award (best feature made for under $500,000)

• Big Fan – Robert Siegel, dir. Elan Bogarin, Jean Kouremetis, prds.
• Humpday – Lynn Shelton, dir/prd.
• The New Year Parade – Tom Quinn, dir. Steve Beal, Tom Quinn, prds.
• Treeless Mountain – Kim So Yong, dir. Bradley Rust Gray, Ben Howe, Kim So Yong, Lars Knusden, Jay Van Hoy, prds.
• Zero Bridge – Tariq Tapa, dir. Josee Lajoie, Hilal Ahmed Langoo, Tariq Tapa, prds.

Acura Someone To Watch Award (presented to a film-maker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition. The award includes as $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Acura.)

• Kyle Patrick Alvarez – Easier With Practice
• Asiel Norton – Redland
• Tariq Tapa – Zero Bridge

Truer Than Fiction Award (presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received appropriate recognition. The award includes as $25,000 unrestricted grant.)

• Natalie Almada – El General
• Jessica Oreck – Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo
• Bill Ross, Turner Ross – 45356

Piaget Producers Award (presented to emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce quality independent films. The award includes as $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Piaget.)

• Karin Chien – The Exploding Girl, Santa Mesa
• Larry Fessenden – I Sell The Dead, The House Of The Devil
• Dia Sokol – Beeswax, Nights & Weekends

Robert Altman Award (presented to one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast)

• A Serious Man
  Dirs, Ethan and Joel Coen
  Casting directors, Ellen Chenoweth and Rachel Tenner
  Ensemble cast: Richard Kind, Sari Lennick, Jessica McManus, Fred Melamed, Michael Stuhlbarg, Aaron Wolff