The 2012 Film Independent Spirit Awards, or the Spirit Awards, will be presented this Saturday, February 25th and air on IFC at 10 ET. They appreciate films in which moviemakers have more creative control. Though they do include some Oscar nominees, the Spirit Awards honor films that are made for less than twenty million dollars, which means most viewers will be exposed to many films of which they have never heard. The awards ceremony is often quite playful and fun to watch, and this year’s show will be hosted by Seth Rogen.
It is of no surprise that The Artist is up for five Spirit Awards (Feature, Actor, Director, Screenplay, and Cinematography) due to its abundance of Oscar nominations, but the four other Best Feature nominees have very few Oscar nominations between them. 50/50 and Take Shelter are not nominated for any Oscars, Drive is only up for Best Achievement in Sound Editing, and Beginners is only up for Best Supporting Actor. But each of these films has more nominations at the Spirit Awards. 50/50 is also up for Supporting Female and First Screenplay; Take Shelter is up for Male Lead, Supporting Female, and Director; Drive is up for Male Lead, Supporting Male, and Director; and Beginners is up for Supporting Male, Director, and Screenplay.
Besides the standard awards given out by most awards shows, the Spirit Awards have a few uncommon awards. Honors are awarded for Best First Feature and Best First Screenplay, and the John Cassavetes Award is awarded to films that cost under $500,000. One nominee for the Cassavetes Award this year is Pariah, a film that did play very briefly in Columbus at AMC Lennox.
For anyone interested in independent films, hear about new films by checking out the Spirit Awards on Saturday (or at least look up the nominees). This year’s nominations include a variety of films and would provide a fresh list of rentals to look for when they come out on DVD.
To view the website for the Spirit Awards and see what is nominated, click here.
For those without IFC, check IMDB for coverage of the show.
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