Spirit Award Noms Include Austin Connections

The 25th Annual Film Independent Spirit Awards were announced on Tuesday, and two Austin-related projects were honored with nominations:

• Christian McKay was nominated in the Best Supporting Male category for his portrayal of Orson Welles in local filmmaker Richard Linklater's latest feature, Me and Orson Welles. You can see photos of McKay and Linklater in our photo essay from the Me and Orson Welles red carpet in Austin.
• Dia Sokol, producer of Beeswax, was nominated for the Piaget Producers Award. Beeswax was filmed locally and starred many local filmmakers in acting roles. Jette reviewed the movie at SXSW this year; the above photo, with Sokol in the middle, was taken at the SXSW Q&A for Beeswax.

Austinites may recognize many other titles on the list, which you can read in full after the jump. A number of the nominated films played at SXSW or at Austin Film Festival this year. Beeswax director/editor Andrew Bujalski now lives in Austin, and can be seen below with SXSW Film Director Janet Pierson, who was also featured in the film.

The 2010 Spirit Award nominations:

BEST FEATURE
(500) Days Of Summer - Producers: Mason Novick, Jessica Tuchinsky, Mark Waters, Steven J. Wolfe
Amreeka - Producers: Paul Barkin, Christina Piovesan
Precious - Producers: Lee Daniels, Gary Magness, Sarah Siegel-Magness
Sin Nombre - Producer: Amy Kaufman
The Last Station - Producers: Bonnie Arnold, Chris Curling, Jens Meuer

BEST DIRECTOR
Ethan Coen, Joel Coen - A Serious Man
Lee Daniels - Precious
Cary Joji Fukunaga - Sin Nombre
James Gray - Two Lovers
Michael Hoffman - The Last Station

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 FIRST FEATURE
A Single Man - Director: Tom Ford; Producers: Tom Ford, Andrew Miano, Robert Salerno, Chris Weitz
Crazy Heart - Director: Scott Cooper; Producers: T Bone Burnett, Judy Cairo, Rob Carliner, Scott Cooper, Robert Duvall
Easier With Practice - Director: Kyle Patrick Alvarez; Producer: Cookie Carosella
Paranormal Activity - Director: Oren Peli; Producer: Jason Blum, Oren Peli
The Messenger - Director: Oren Moverman; Producers: Mark Gordon, Lawrence Inglee, Zach Miller

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD - Given to the best feature made for under $500,000
Big Fan - Writer/Director: Robert Siegel; Producers: Elan Bogarin, Jean Kouremetis
Humpday - Writer/Director/Producer: Lynn Shelton
The New Year Parade - Writer/Director: Tom Quinn; Producers: Steve Beal, Tom Quinn
Treeless Mountain - Writer/Director: So Yong Kim; Producers: Bradley Rust Gray, Ben Howe, So Yong Kim, Lars Knudsen, Jay Van Hoy
Zero Bridge - Writer/Director: Tariq Tapa; Producers: Josee Lajoie, Hilal Ahmed Langoo, Tariq Tapa

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
Souléymane Sy Savané - 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
Jemaine Clement - Gentlemen Broncos
Woody Harrelson - The Messenger
Christian McKay - Me and Orson Welles
Raymond McKinnon - That Evening Sun
Christopher Plummer - The Last Station

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Roger Deakins - A Serious Man
Adriano Goldman - Sin Nombre
Anne Misawa - Treeless Mountain
Andrij Parekh - Cold Souls
Peter Zeitlinger - Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans

BEST DOCUMENTARY
Anvil! The Story of Anvil - Director: Sacha Gervasi
Food, Inc. - Director: Robert Kenner
More Than A Game - Director: Kristopher Belman
October Country - Directors: Donal Mosher, Michael Palmieri
Which Way Home - Director: Rebecca Cammisa

BEST FOREIGN FILM
A Prophet - (France) Director: Jacques Audiard
An Education - (UK/France) Director: Lone Scherfig
Everlasting Moments - (Sweden) Director: Jan Troell
Mother - (South Korea) Director: Bong Joon-Ho
The Maid - (Chile) Director: Sebastián Silva

ACURA SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD
Kyle Patrick Alvarez - Easier With Practice
Asiel Norton - Redland
Tariq Tapa - Zero Bridge

TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD
Natalia Almada - El General
Jessica Oreck - Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo
Bill Ross, Turner Ross - 45365

PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD
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 - (Given to one film's director, casting director, and its ensemble cast)
A Serious Man
Directors: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
Casting Directors: Ellen Chenoweth, Rachel Tenner
Ensemble Cast: Richard Kind, Sari Lennick, Jessica McManus, Fred Melamed, Michael Stuhlbarg, Aaron Wolff

The Film Independent Spirit Awards ceremony will air live on Friday, March 5, 2010 at 10 pm CST on IFC (Independent Film Channel).

[Photo credit: Photos taken by Jette Kernion during SXSW 2009.]