“Let the games begin…..!”

With the Oscars just three months away, the awards race has finally started with several contenders getting early boosts after the nominations for the 28th Annual Independent Spirit Awards were announced earlier by Zoe Saldana and Anna Kendrick.

Wes Anderson’s quirky comedy Moonrise Kingdom and David O. Russell’s romantic dramedy Silver Linings Playbook both received five nominations each with Benh Zeitlin’s indie-drama Beasts of the Southern Wild not far behind with four. All three films are nodded for Best Feature alongside Bernie (starring Jack Black) and Keep the Lights On. Anderson, O. Russell and Zeitlin are also up against each in the Best Director shortlist.

Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence are the star names nominated in the leading actor categories for Silver Linings with Cooper c0mpeting against the likes of Jack Black, John Hawkes for The Sessions and Matthew McConaughey who is double-nominated in lead and supporting for Killer Joe and Magic Mike respectively. Lawrence on the other hand is up against the likes of nine-year old Quvenzhane Wallis for her delightful performance in Beasts and Mary Elizabeth Winstead for Smashed.

Bruce Willis is nodded in Supporting Actor for Moonrise Kingdom with other well-known challengers including Michael Pena for End of Watch and Sam Rockwell for Seven Psychopaths. Oscar-winner Helen Hunt makes her awards comeback with a Supporting Actress mention for The Sessions. Her competition includes Rosemarie Dewitt for My Sister’s Sister and Ann Dowd for the gritty Compliance.

There was also some attention for foreign films with the French duo Amour and Rust and Bone both going head to head in the Best International Award category.

However, despite the love for Silver Linings, Beasts and The Sessions, there was no sign of predicted Oscar contenders Robert De Niro, Dwight Henry or William H. Macy in amongst the supporting actor nominees.

The full list of nominations are below:

Best Director
Wes Anderson (Moonrise Kingdom)
Julia Loktev (The Loneliest Planet)
David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook)
Ira Sachs (Keep the Lights On)
Benh Zeitlin (Beasts of the Southern Wild)

Best Screenplay
Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola (Moonrise Kingdom)
Zoe Kazan (Ruby Sparks)
Martin McDonagh (Seven Psychopaths)
David O. Russell (Silver Linings Playbook)
Ira Sachs (Keep the Lights On)

Best Male Lead
Jack Black (Bernie)
Bradley Cooper (Silver Linings Playbook)
John Hawkes (The Sessions)
Thure Lindhardt (Keep the Lights On)
Matthew McConaughey (Killer Joe)
Wendell Pierce (Four)

Best Female Lead
Linda Cardellini (Return)
Emayatzy Corinealdi (Middle of Nowhere)
Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)
Quvenzhané Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild)
Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Smashed)

Best First Screenplay
Rama Burshtein (Fill the Void)
Derek Connolly (Safety Not Guaranteed)
Christopher Ford (Robot & Frank)
Rashida Jones & Will McCormack (Celeste and Jesse Forever)
Jonathan Lisecki (Gayby)

John Cassavetes Award for features under $500,000
Breakfast with Curtis
Middle of Nowhere
Mosquita y Mari
Starlet
The Colour Wheel

Best Cinematography
Yoni Brook, Valley of Saints
Lol Crawley, Here
Ben Richardson, Beasts of the Southern Wild
Roman Vasyanov, End of Watch
Robert Yeoman, Moonrise Kingdom

Best International Award
Amour (France)
Once Upon A Time in Anatolia (Turkey)
Rust And Bone (France/Belgium)
Sister (Switzerland)
War Witch (Democratic Republic of Congo)

Piaget Producers Award
Nobody Walks, Alicia Van Couvering
Prince Avalanche, Derrick Tseng
Stones in the Sun, Mynette Louie

Someone to Watch Award
Pincus, director David Fenster
Gimme the Loot, director Adam Leon
Electrick Children, director Rebecca Thomas

Truer than Fiction Award (given to emerging documentary filmmaker)
Leviathan, directors Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Véréna Paravel
The Waiting Room, director Peter Nicks
Only the Young, directors Jason Tippet & Elizabeth Mims

Robert Altman Award (for ensemble cast)
Starlet
Director: Sean Baker
Casting Director: Julia Kim
Cast: Dree Hemingway, Besedka Johnson, Karren Karagulian, Stella Maeve, James Ransone

Source: Spirit Awards