Independent Spirit Awards 2011
Encyclopedia
The 27th Independent Spirit Awards announced its nominees in November 29, 2011. The winners will be announced on February 25, 2012.

Best Film (Best Feature)

  • 50/50
  • The Artist
    The Artist (film)
    The Artist is a 2011 French romance film directed by Michel Hazanavicius, starring Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo. The story takes place in Hollywood between 1927 and 1932 and focuses on a declining male film star and a rising actress, as silent cinema grows out of fashion and is replaced by the...

  • Beginners
    Beginners
    Beginners is a 2010 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Mike Mills. It tells the story of Oliver , a man reflecting on the life and death of his father while trying to forge a new romantic relationship with a woman dealing with father issues of her own.Beginners premiered at the 2010...

  • The Descendants
    The Descendants (film)
    The Descendants is a 2011 comedy-drama film based on the novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings. The film stars George Clooney, Judy Greer, Matthew Lillard and Shailene Woodley and it was released in the United States on November 18, 2011. It is directed by Alexander Payne, with a screenplay by Payne, Nat...

  • Drive
    Drive (2011 film)
    Drive is a 2011 American crime neo-noir drama film directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, starring Ryan Gosling as the principal character, with Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, and Albert Brooks...

  • Take Shelter
    Take Shelter
    Take Shelter is a 2011 American drama film starring Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain. The film is written and directed by Jeff Nichols. Plagued by a series of apocalyptic visions, a young husband and father questions whether to shelter his family from a coming storm, or from...


Best Director

  • Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist
    The Artist (film)
    The Artist is a 2011 French romance film directed by Michel Hazanavicius, starring Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo. The story takes place in Hollywood between 1927 and 1932 and focuses on a declining male film star and a rising actress, as silent cinema grows out of fashion and is replaced by the...

  • Mike Mills
    Mike Mills (director)
    Michael C. "Mike" Mills is an American film and music video director and graphic designer. He is perhaps best known for his independent films Thumbsucker and Beginners.-Early life:...

     – Beginners
    Beginners
    Beginners is a 2010 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Mike Mills. It tells the story of Oliver , a man reflecting on the life and death of his father while trying to forge a new romantic relationship with a woman dealing with father issues of her own.Beginners premiered at the 2010...

  • Jeff Nichols
    Jeff Nichols
    Jeff Nichols is a comedian and writer based in NYC. Nichols was born in Manhattan on the upper-east-side in 1969. Growing up, Nichols struggled with learning disabilities, a speech impediment, dyslexia, ADD, and a mild case of Tourette Syndrome...

     – Take Shelter
    Take Shelter
    Take Shelter is a 2011 American drama film starring Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain. The film is written and directed by Jeff Nichols. Plagued by a series of apocalyptic visions, a young husband and father questions whether to shelter his family from a coming storm, or from...

  • Alexander Payne
    Alexander Payne
    Alexander Payne, born Alexander Constantine Papadopoulos is an American film director and screenwriter. His films are noted for their dark humor and satirical depictions of contemporary American society.- Early life :...

     – The Descendants
    The Descendants (film)
    The Descendants is a 2011 comedy-drama film based on the novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings. The film stars George Clooney, Judy Greer, Matthew Lillard and Shailene Woodley and it was released in the United States on November 18, 2011. It is directed by Alexander Payne, with a screenplay by Payne, Nat...

  • Nicolas Winding Refn – Drive
    Drive (film)
    Drive is a 1998 direct-to-video film starring Mark Dacascos, Kadeem Hardison, Tracey Walter, John Pyper-Ferguson, Brittany Murphy, and Masaya Kato...


Best First Feature

  • Another Earth
    Another Earth
    Another Earth is a 2011 American science fantasy/drama film directed by Mike Cahill in his feature film debut. The film stars William Mapother and Brit Marling. It premiered at the 27th Sundance Film Festival in January 2011 and is being distributed by Fox Searchlight Pictures.-Synopsis:Rhoda...

  • In The Family
  • Margin Call
    Margin Call
    Margin Call is a 2011 American independent drama film, written and directed by J.C. Chandor. The film has an ensemble cast that includes Kevin Spacey, Demi Moore, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Zachary Quinto, Stanley Tucci, Simon Baker, and Penn Badgley...

  • Martha Marcy May Marlene
    Martha Marcy May Marlene
    Martha Marcy May Marlene is a 2011 American psychological thriller film written and directed by Sean Durkin, and starring Elizabeth Olsen , John Hawkes, Sarah Paulson, and Hugh Dancy...

  • Natural Selection
    Natural Selection (film)
    Natural Selection is a 2011 comedy-drama film written and directed by Robbie Pickering. It stars Rachael Harris, Matt O'Leary, John Diehl, and Jon Gries. The film was accepted by South by Southwest for the 2011 Narrative Feature Competition. - Synopsis :...


John Cassavetes Award

  • Bellflower
    Bellflower (film)
    Bellflower is a 2011 American film written and directed by Evan Glodell. It was produced on a shoestring budget in Ventura, California and premiered in January 2011 at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival....

  • Circumstance
    Circumstance (2011 film)
    Circumstance is a 2011 dramatic film written and directed by Maryam Keshavarz. It explores homosexuality in modern Iran.-Plot:Atafeh is the teenage daughter of a well-to-do Iranian family in Tehran...

  • Hello Lonesome
  • Pariah
    Pariah (2011 film)
    Pariah is a 2011 contemporary drama film written and directed by Dee Rees. It tells the story of Alike , a 17-year old African–American teenager embracing her identity as a lesbian....

  • The Dynamiter

Best Screenplay

  • Mike Mills
    Mike Mills (director)
    Michael C. "Mike" Mills is an American film and music video director and graphic designer. He is perhaps best known for his independent films Thumbsucker and Beginners.-Early life:...

     – Beginners
    Beginners
    Beginners is a 2010 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Mike Mills. It tells the story of Oliver , a man reflecting on the life and death of his father while trying to forge a new romantic relationship with a woman dealing with father issues of her own.Beginners premiered at the 2010...

  • Alexander Payne
    Alexander Payne
    Alexander Payne, born Alexander Constantine Papadopoulos is an American film director and screenwriter. His films are noted for their dark humor and satirical depictions of contemporary American society.- Early life :...

    , Nat Faxon
    Nat Faxon
    -Life and career:Faxon is a graduate of Holderness School and Hamilton College, he is best known for his appearances in comedic films such as Orange County , Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story , and several Broken Lizard films including Beerfest...

     & Jim Rash
    Jim Rash
    Jim Rash was born in Charlotte, North Carolina and is an American actor, comedian and screenwriter.His most noticeable appearance was when he portrayed Mr Grayson/Stitches, a sidekick to the supervillain 'Royal Pain' in the 2005 film Sky High and as the recurring characters Fenton on That '70s Show...

     – The Descendants
    The Descendants (film)
    The Descendants is a 2011 comedy-drama film based on the novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings. The film stars George Clooney, Judy Greer, Matthew Lillard and Shailene Woodley and it was released in the United States on November 18, 2011. It is directed by Alexander Payne, with a screenplay by Payne, Nat...

  • Joseph Cedar
    Joseph Cedar
    Yossef Cedar is an Israeli film director and screenwriter. He has won a Silver Bear and an Ophir Award for Best Director, and an Ophir Award for writing a Best Screenplay. He also won the best screenplay award at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. for his film Footnote .-Biography:Cedar was born in...

     – Footnote
    Footnote (film)
    Footnote is a 2011 Israeli drama film written and directed by Joseph Cedar, starring Shlomo Bar Aba and Lior Ashkenazi. The plot revolves a power struggle between a father and his son who both teach at the Talmud department of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The film won the Best Screenplay...

  • Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist
    The Artist (film)
    The Artist is a 2011 French romance film directed by Michel Hazanavicius, starring Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo. The story takes place in Hollywood between 1927 and 1932 and focuses on a declining male film star and a rising actress, as silent cinema grows out of fashion and is replaced by the...

  • Tom McCarthy – Win Win
    Win Win (film)
    Win Win is a 2011 American sports comedy-drama film directed by Thomas McCarthy. Based on the story written by Joe Tiboni and Thomas McCarthy, it stars Paul Giamatti, Alex Shaffer and Amy Ryan.-Plot:...


Best First Screenplay

  • Mike Cahill
    Mike Cahill (director)
    Mike Cahill is an American film director and screenwriter.-Background:Mike Cahill was born in New Haven, Connecticut on 5 July 1979. His first forays into filmmaking were with Fisher-Price and VHS camcorders when he was young. After high school, Cahill studied economics at Georgetown University,...

     & Brit Marling
    Brit Marling
    Brit Marling is an American writer, producer, director, and actress.She graduated from Georgetown University in 2005 with a degree in economics...

     – Another Earth
    Another Earth
    Another Earth is a 2011 American science fantasy/drama film directed by Mike Cahill in his feature film debut. The film stars William Mapother and Brit Marling. It premiered at the 27th Sundance Film Festival in January 2011 and is being distributed by Fox Searchlight Pictures.-Synopsis:Rhoda...

  • Patrick deWitt
    Patrick deWitt
    Patrick deWitt is a Canadian novelist. He was born on Vancouver Island, British Columbia and later lived in California and Washington. He currently lives in Portland, Oregon....

     – Terri
    Terri (film)
    Terri is a 2011 independent comedy-drama film about the relationship between Terri, an oversized teen misfit, and the garrulous but well-meaning assistant school principal John C. Reilly who takes an interest in him...

  • Phil Johnston – Cedar Rapids
    Cedar Rapids (film)
    Cedar Rapids is a 2011 American comedy film directed by Miguel Arteta. The script, written by Phil Johnston, was included on the 2009 Blacklist, a Hollywood list of the most popular unproduced screenplays of the year.-Plot:...

  • Will Reiser – 50/50
  • J.C. Chandor
    J.C. Chandor
    J.C. Chandor is an American writer/director, best known as the director of the film Margin Call released in 2011. He graduated in 1996 from The College of Wooster. The film premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah...

     – Margin Call
    Margin Call
    Margin Call is a 2011 American independent drama film, written and directed by J.C. Chandor. The film has an ensemble cast that includes Kevin Spacey, Demi Moore, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Zachary Quinto, Stanley Tucci, Simon Baker, and Penn Badgley...


Best Female Lead

  • Lauren Ambrose – Think of Me
  • Rachael Harris
    Rachael Harris
    Rachael Elaine Harris is an American actress and comedian.-Early life:Harris was born in Worthington, Ohio. She graduated from Worthington High School...

     – Natural Selection
    Natural Selection (film)
    Natural Selection is a 2011 comedy-drama film written and directed by Robbie Pickering. It stars Rachael Harris, Matt O'Leary, John Diehl, and Jon Gries. The film was accepted by South by Southwest for the 2011 Narrative Feature Competition. - Synopsis :...

  • Adepero Oduye – Pariah
    Pariah (2011 film)
    Pariah is a 2011 contemporary drama film written and directed by Dee Rees. It tells the story of Alike , a 17-year old African–American teenager embracing her identity as a lesbian....

  • Elizabeth Olsen
    Elizabeth Olsen
    Elizabeth Chase Olsen is an American actress and is the younger sister of Mary-Kate Olsen, Ashley Olsen, and Trent Olsen...

     – Martha Marcy May Marlene
    Martha Marcy May Marlene
    Martha Marcy May Marlene is a 2011 American psychological thriller film written and directed by Sean Durkin, and starring Elizabeth Olsen , John Hawkes, Sarah Paulson, and Hugh Dancy...

  • Michelle Williams
    Michelle Williams (actress)
    Michelle Ingrid Williams is an American actress. After starting her career with television guest appearances in the early 1990s, Williams achieved recognition for her role as Jen Lindley on the WB television teen drama Dawson's Creek, which she played from 1998 to 2003...

     – My Week with Marilyn
    My Week with Marilyn
    My Week with Marilyn is a British drama film directed by Simon Curtis and written by Adrian Hodges. It stars Michelle Williams, Kenneth Branagh, Eddie Redmayne, Dougray Scott, Judi Dench and Emma Watson. Based on two books by Colin Clark, it depicts the making of the 1957 film The Prince and the...


Best Male Lead

  • Demián Bichir
    Demián Bichir
    Demián Bichir Nájera is a Mexican actor. Both of his parents, Alejandro Bichir and Maricruz Nájera, and brothers Odiseo and Bruno Bichir are actors. He was married to singer Lisset Gutiérrez.-Career:...

     – A Better Life
    A Better Life
    A Better Life is a 2011 American drama film directed by Chris Weitz. The screenplay, originally known as The Gardener, was written by Eric Eason based on a story by Roger L. Simon.-Plot:...

  • Jean Dujardin
    Jean Dujardin
    -Life and career:Dujardin was born in Rueil-Malmaison. Dujardin first became famous on the French talent show Graines de star in 1996 as part of the comedy group Nous C Nous, formed by members of the Carré blanc theater. From 1999 to 2003 he starred in the French version of the comedy television...

     – The Artist
    The Artist (film)
    The Artist is a 2011 French romance film directed by Michel Hazanavicius, starring Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo. The story takes place in Hollywood between 1927 and 1932 and focuses on a declining male film star and a rising actress, as silent cinema grows out of fashion and is replaced by the...

  • Ryan Gosling
    Ryan Gosling
    Ryan Thomas Gosling is a Canadian actor and musician. He first came to public attention as a child star on the Disney Channel's Mickey Mouse Club and went on to appear in other family entertainment programmes including Are You Afraid of the Dark? , Goosebumps , Breaker High and Young Hercules...

     – Drive
    Drive (2011 film)
    Drive is a 2011 American crime neo-noir drama film directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, starring Ryan Gosling as the principal character, with Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, and Albert Brooks...

  • Woody Harrelson
    Woody Harrelson
    Woodrow Tracy "Woody" Harrelson is an American actor.Harrelson's breakthrough role came in the television sitcom Cheers as bartender Woody Boyd...

     – Rampart
    Rampart (film)
    Rampart is a drama film released in 2011. Directed by Oren Moverman and co-written by Moverman and James Ellroy, the film stars Woody Harrelson and Ice Cube. In the midst of the fallout from the Rampart scandal of the 1990s, dirty LAPD veteran Dave Brown is forced to face up to the consequences of...

  • Michael Shannon
    Michael Shannon (actor)
    Michael Corbett Shannon is an American stage, film, and television actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role in Revolutionary Road...

     – Take Shelter
    Take Shelter
    Take Shelter is a 2011 American drama film starring Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain. The film is written and directed by Jeff Nichols. Plagued by a series of apocalyptic visions, a young husband and father questions whether to shelter his family from a coming storm, or from...


Best Supporting Female

  • Jessica Chastain
    Jessica Chastain
    Jessica Chastain is an American film and television actress.-Early life:Jessica Chastain was born Jessica Howard in Northern California. She is one of five children. Her mother, Jerri, is a vegan chef, and her stepfather, Michael, is a firefighter. Chastain is also vegan herself. She took her...

     – Take Shelter
    Take Shelter
    Take Shelter is a 2011 American drama film starring Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain. The film is written and directed by Jeff Nichols. Plagued by a series of apocalyptic visions, a young husband and father questions whether to shelter his family from a coming storm, or from...

  • Anjelica Huston
    Anjelica Huston
    Anjelica Huston is an American actress. Huston became the third generation of her family to win an Academy Award, for her performance in 1985's Prizzi's Honor, joining her father, director John Huston, and grandfather, actor Walter Huston. She later was nominated in 1989 and 1990 for her acting in...

     – 50/50
  • Janet McTeer
    Janet McTeer
    Janet McTeer, OBE is a British actress.-Life and career:McTeer was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, United Kingdom, the daughter of Jean and Alan McTeer...

     – Albert Nobbs
    Albert Nobbs
    Albert Nobbs is a film starring Glenn Close and directed by Rodrigo García. The screenplay is based on a short story by Irish novelist George Moore.- Plot :Glenn Close plays a woman passing as a man in order to work and survive in 19th century Ireland...

  • Harmony Santana – Gun Hill Road
    Gun Hill Road (film)
    Gun Hill Road is a 2011 drama film starring Esai Morales. The title of the film derives from the Bronx neighborhood of the same name.-Plot:Ex-con Enrique returns home after a stint in prison...

  • Shailene Woodley
    Shailene Woodley
    Shailene Diann Woodley is an American actress. Woodley is known for portraying Amy Juergens in the ABC Family series, The Secret Life of the American Teenager, and for co-starring with George Clooney in the 2011 drama film The Descendants.-Early life:Woodley was born in Simi Valley, California...

     – The Descendants
    The Descendants (film)
    The Descendants is a 2011 comedy-drama film based on the novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings. The film stars George Clooney, Judy Greer, Matthew Lillard and Shailene Woodley and it was released in the United States on November 18, 2011. It is directed by Alexander Payne, with a screenplay by Payne, Nat...


Best Supporting Male

  • Albert Brooks
    Albert Brooks
    Albert Lawrence Brooks is an American actor, voice actor, writer, comedian and director. He received an Academy Award nomination in 1987 for his role in Broadcast News...

     – Drive
    Drive (2011 film)
    Drive is a 2011 American crime neo-noir drama film directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, starring Ryan Gosling as the principal character, with Carey Mulligan, Bryan Cranston, and Albert Brooks...

  • John Hawkes
    John Hawkes (actor)
    John Hawkes is an American film and television actor. He is known for his portrayal of the merchant Sol Star on the HBO series Deadwood, Dustin Powers on Eastbound & Down, and his Academy Award-nominated performance as the menacing backwoods meth addict Teardrop in Winter's Bone.-Life and...

     – Martha Marcy May Marlene
    Martha Marcy May Marlene
    Martha Marcy May Marlene is a 2011 American psychological thriller film written and directed by Sean Durkin, and starring Elizabeth Olsen , John Hawkes, Sarah Paulson, and Hugh Dancy...

  • Christopher Plummer
    Christopher Plummer
    Arthur Christopher Orne Plummer, CC is a Canadian theatre, film and television actor. He made his film debut in 1957's Stage Struck, and notable early film performances include Night of the Generals, The Return of the Pink Panther and The Man Who Would Be King.In a career that spans over five...

     – Beginners
    Beginners
    Beginners is a 2010 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Mike Mills. It tells the story of Oliver , a man reflecting on the life and death of his father while trying to forge a new romantic relationship with a woman dealing with father issues of her own.Beginners premiered at the 2010...

  • John C. Reilly
    John C. Reilly
    John Christopher Reilly, Jr. is an American film and theater actor, singer, and comedian. Debuting in Casualties of War in 1989, he is one of several actors whose careers were launched by Brian De Palma. To date, he has appeared in more than fifty films, including three separate films in 2002...

     – Cedar Rapids
    Cedar Rapids (film)
    Cedar Rapids is a 2011 American comedy film directed by Miguel Arteta. The script, written by Phil Johnston, was included on the 2009 Blacklist, a Hollywood list of the most popular unproduced screenplays of the year.-Plot:...

  • Corey Stoll
    Corey Stoll
    Corey Daniel Stoll is an American stage and screen actor. He received a Drama Desk Award nomination as Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play for Intimate Apparel, opposite Tony winner and Oscar nominee Viola Davis. He graduated from Oberlin College in 1998...

     – Midnight in Paris
    Midnight in Paris
    Midnight in Paris is a 2011 romantic comedy-fantasy film written and directed by Woody Allen. The plot centers on a small group of Americans visiting the French capital for business and pleasure...


Best Cinematography

  • The Artist
    The Artist (film)
    The Artist is a 2011 French romance film directed by Michel Hazanavicius, starring Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo. The story takes place in Hollywood between 1927 and 1932 and focuses on a declining male film star and a rising actress, as silent cinema grows out of fashion and is replaced by the...

  • Bellflower
    Bellflower (film)
    Bellflower is a 2011 American film written and directed by Evan Glodell. It was produced on a shoestring budget in Ventura, California and premiered in January 2011 at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival....

  • The Dynamiter
  • Midnight in Paris
    Midnight in Paris
    Midnight in Paris is a 2011 romantic comedy-fantasy film written and directed by Woody Allen. The plot centers on a small group of Americans visiting the French capital for business and pleasure...

  • The Off Hours
    The Off Hours
    The Off Hours is an American film written and directed by Seattle filmmaker Megan Griffiths. The full length feature film is akin to real life events that happened at a truck stop. It was distinguished due to its adoption of environmental and socially acceptable settings, which has won recognition...


Best Documentary

  • An African Election
    An African Election
    An African Election is a political documentary film of 2011 directed by Jarreth and Kevin Merz.-Synopsis:An African Election is a political documentary that exposes the never-before-seen, nitty-gritty of political electioneering in Africa...

  • Bill Cunningham New York
    Bill Cunningham New York
    Bill Cunningham New York is a 2010 documentary film directed by Richard Press and produced by Philip Gefter. Bill Cunningham New York is distributed by Zeitgeist Films and was released in theaters on March 16, 2011.-Synopsis:...

  • The Interrupters
    The Interrupters
    The Interrupters is a 2011 documentary film, produced by Kartemquin Films, that tells the story of three violence interrupters who try to protect their Chicago communities from the violence they once employed...

  • The Redemption of General Butt Naked
  • We Were Here
    We Were Here (film)
    We Were Here is a 2011 documentary film about the AIDS crisis in San Francisco. The film, produced and directed by David Weissman with editor/ co-director and Bill Weber, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2011, The Berlin Film Festival in February 2011 and had its theatrical...


Best Foreign Film

  • The Kid with a Bike
    The Kid with a Bike
    The Kid with a Bike is a 2011 drama film written and directed by the Belgian brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, starring Cécile de France and Thomas Doret. Set in Seraing, it tells the story of an 11-year-old boy who turns to a woman after his father has abandoned him. The film was produced...

     (Belgium)
  • Melancholia (Denmark)
  • A Separation (Iran)
  • Shame
    Shame (2011 film)
    Shame is an erotic drama film co-written and directed by Steve McQueen, starring Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan. Shame was co-produced by Film4 and See-Saw Films...

     (United Kingdom)
  • Tyrannosaur
    Tyrannosaur (film)
    Tyrannosaur is a 2011 British drama film written and directed by actor Paddy Considine .The film depicts an environment similar to what Considine witnessed growing up on a council estate in the Midlands, although the film is in no way autobiographical...

     (United Kingdom)

Piaget Producers Award

  • Chad Burris – Mosquito y Mari
  • Sophia Lynn – Take Shelter
    Take Shelter
    Take Shelter is a 2011 American drama film starring Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain. The film is written and directed by Jeff Nichols. Plagued by a series of apocalyptic visions, a young husband and father questions whether to shelter his family from a coming storm, or from...

  • Josh Bond – Martha Marcy May Marlene
    Martha Marcy May Marlene
    Martha Marcy May Marlene is a 2011 American psychological thriller film written and directed by Sean Durkin, and starring Elizabeth Olsen , John Hawkes, Sarah Paulson, and Hugh Dancy...


Someone to Watch Award

  • Simon Arthur – Silver Tongues
  • Mark Jackson – Without
  • Nicholas Ozeki – Mamitas

Truer Than Fiction Award

  • Where Soldiers Come From
    Where Soldiers Come From
    Where Soldiers Come From is a 2011 American documentary film directed by Heather Courtney. The film is about three friends who sign up for the National Guard and are sent to Afghanistan to sweep for roadside bombs. It premiered at South by Southwest festival, where it won the best documentary...

  • Hell and Back Again
  • Bombay Beach
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