"American" Spirit Moves Indies

It's a banner year for America, as far as the Independent Spirit Awards are concerned.

In America, director Jim Sheridan's sentimental semi-autobiographical tale of an Irish family chasing the oh-so-fleeting American dream, led the field in nominations for the 2004 IFP Independent Spirit Awards.

The film from the man previously responsible for My Left Foot and In the Name of the Father nabbed a total of six nods: Best Feature, Best Director, Best Female Lead (Samantha Morton), Best Supporting Female (Sarah Bolger), Best Supporting Male (Djimon Hounsou) and Best Cinematography.

Trailing just behind in the nomination race with five Spirit nods was the darling of the 2003 Sundance Film Festival, American Splendor, the combination comic book animation/live action biopic about the life of curmudgeonly Harvey Pekar, a file clerk-turned-graphic novelist.

American Splendor's writer-director team of Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini were double nominees for their screenplay-penning and helming skills, while the film also scored nods for Best Feature, Best Male Lead (Paul Giamatti) and Best Supporting Male (Judah Friedlander).

Also at the top of the field was Raising Victor Vargas, a coming-of-age film about the agonies of teen love. Peter Sollett earned triple honors for his roles as writer, director and coproducer (with Alain de la Mata, Scott Macaulay and Robin O'Hara), while newcomers Judy Marte and Victor Rasuk were both nominees in the Best Debut Performance category.

Not only was it a good year for films with the word "America" in their title, it was a year distinguished by a strong crop of female contenders in the indie film genre.

IFP/Los Angeles executive director Dawn Hudson said she was excited by the increased estrogen levels in the field. "It's especially gratifying to see more women writers/directors emerging in the independent film world, including today's nominees Shari Springer Berman, Sofia Coppola, Lisa France, Catherine Hardwicke and Deborah Kampmeier," Hudson said.

Producer-director-writer Sofia Coppola earned a trifecta of nods for Lost in Translation, a tale of outsiders drawn together by circumstance. (The film also pulled down a nomination for Bill Murray as Best Male Lead.)

Catherine Harwicke reeled in a pair of nominations for her writing and directing on the teen-angst flick Thirteen, while newcomer Patty Jenkins also received a duo of nods for Best First Feature and Best First Screenplay for her work on Monster, which is due out in limited release later this month.

Other films receiving multiple nominations were Shattered Glass with four nods, and House of Sand and Fog, Pieces of April and The Station Agent with three apiece.

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's 21 Grams was honored with a Special Distinction Award by the 2004 Spirit Awards Nominating Committee for its "uniqueness of vision, bold conception and direction, the honesty of its screenwriting, bravery of its performances and achievement on every level of filmmaking." The film was not eligible for individual nominations due to its budget, which was deemed overlarge by the committee.

The awards will be handed out February 28, 2004, at a low-key ceremony in a tent on a sandy Los Angeles beach the day before the high-pitched frenzy of the Oscars.

Here's a complete round-up of the nominees for the 2004 IFP Independent Spirit Awards:

Best Feature: American Splendor, In America, Lost in Translation, Raising Victor Vargas, Shattered Glass

Best Director: Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini, American Splendor; Sofia Coppola, Lost in Translation; Jim Sheridan, In America; Peter Sollett, Raising Victor Vargas; Gus Van Sant, Elephant

Best Screenplay: Shari Springer Berman & Robert Pulcini, American Splendor; Sofia Coppola, Lost in Translation; Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy and the cast of A Mighty Wind, A Mighty Wind; Peter Hedges, Pieces of April; Billy Ray, Shattered Glass

Best First Feature: Adam Bhala Lough, Bomb the System; Vadim Perelman, House of Sand and Fog; Patty Jenkins, Monster; Joey Curtis, Quattro Noza; Catherine Hardwicke, Thirteen

John Cassavetes Award (best feature made for under $500,000): Anne B. Real; Better Luck Tomorrow; Pieces of April; The Station Agent; Virgin

Best First Screenplay: Karen Moncrieff, Blue Car; Patty Jenkins, Monster; Peter Sollett and Eva Vives, Raising Victor Vargas; Thomas McCarthy, The Station Agent; Catherine Hardwicke and Nikki Reed, Thirteen

Best Female Lead: Agnes Bruckner, Blue Car; Zooey Deschanel, All the Real Girls; Samantha Morton, In America; Elisabeth Moss, Virgin; Charlize Theron, Monster

Best Male Lead: Peter Dinklage, The Station Agent; Paul Giamatti, American Splendor; Sir Ben Kingsley, House of Sand and Fog; Bill Murray, Lost in Translation; Lee Pace, Soldier's Girl

Best Supporting Female: Shohreh Aghdashloo, House of Sand and Fog; Sarah Bolger, In America; Patricia Clarkson, Pieces of April; Hope Davis, The Secret Lives of Dentists; Frances McDormand, Laurel Canyon

Best Supporting Male: Judah Friedlander, American Splendor; Troy Garity, Soldier's Girl; Djimon Hounsou, In America; Alessandro Nivola, Laurel Canyon; Peter Sarsgaard, Shattered Glass

Best Debut Performance (actors in their first significant role in a feature film): Anna Kendrick, Camp; Judy Marte, Raising Victor Vargas; Victor Rasuk, Raising Victor Vargas; Nikki Reed, Thirteen; Janice Richardson, Anne B. Real

Best Cinematography: Elephant; In America; Northfork; Quattro Noza; Shattered Glass

Best Foreign Film: City of God; Lilya 4-Ever; The Magdalene Sisters; The Triplets of Belleville; Whale Rider

Best Documentary: The Fog of War; Mayor of the Sunset Strip; My Architect; OT: our town; Power Trip