Austin-Connected Spirit Award Nominations and Where to See the Films
The Film Independent Spirit Award nominations for 2011 were announced this week, and Austin fared very well on the list of hopefuls. Take Shelter, the feature from local filmmaker Jeff Nichols (pictured above), received a whopping five nominations: Best Feature, Best Director, Best Male Lead (Michael Shannon), Best Supporting Female (Jessica Chastain), and the Piaget Producers Award (Sophia Lin).
Take Shelter is still playing in Austin at Regal Arbor, although starting Friday it'll move to a late-show slot. Read Jenn's review to learn more about the film.
In addition, Austin documentary filmmaker Heather Courtney received a Spirit Award nomination in the Truer Than Fiction category for her film Where Soldiers Come From, which premiered at SXSW this year -- that's Courtney and the subjects of her film at a SXSW Q&A in the following photo.
You can watch Where Soldiers Come From right now for free, streaming online from the POV webpage on the PBS site. Read my review for more info about this excellent documentary.
An interesting note: Local company Stuck On On did post-production for both Take Shelter and Where Soldiers Come From.
Natural Selection, the Smithville-shot movie that swept the SXSW awards this year, has received two nominations: Best First Feature, and Best Female Lead (Rachael Harris). Cinema Guild plans a theatrical run for the movie, written and directed by Robbie Pickering, in early 2012. Read Debbie's review for more details about the film.
Former Austinite John Hawkes (Winter's Bone) received a Best Supporting Male nomination for his role in Martha Marcy May Marlene (Elizabeth's review). And over at the Austin Chronicle, Kimberley Jones reminds me that Beginners producer Jay Van Hoy is from Austin -- he also produced local films I'll Come Running and Gretchen. Beginners (Don's review) and its producers are nominated for the Best Feature award.
Finally, I noticed several current and former Austinites and Texans on the nomination committees for some of the Spirit Awards. The Piaget Producers Award committee included local producer Anish Savjani; Jay Duplass and Dallas International Film Festival Artistic Director James Faust were on the Someone to Watch Award committee; and local filmmaker PJ Raval on the Truer Than Fiction Award panel.
The Film Independent Spirit Awards will be announced on February 25, 2012.
[Photo credits: "Director Jeff Nichols sports an antique BBros T on the set of Take Shelter" courtesy of The Butler Brothers;"'Where Soldiers Come From' Screening" by Mark Riechers. Both photos found on Flickr and used with permission.]