Out director Gus Van Sant's reflection on the Columbine massacre and a docudrama about lesbian serial killer Aileen Wuornos were among the non-Hollywood films recognized Wednesday when the Independent Feature Project/West announced nominees for the 2004 Independent Spirit Awards. Van Sant is up for Best Director for his Cannes Film Festival-winning Elephant, and Charlize Theron was nominated for Best Actress for her performance as Wuornos in Patty Jenkins's Monster. Other gay-inclusive films in the competition for the "indie Oscars" include American Splendor (Judah Friedlander is up for Best Supporting Male for his role as Harvey Pekar's eccentric gay friend Toby Radloff) and Soldier's Girl (Lee Pace picked up a Best Male Lead nod for his moving portrayal of real-life transgendered performer Calpernia Addams, while Troy Garrity is up for Best Supporting Male as murdered soldier Barry Winchell). Frances McDormand was recognized for her role as a hedonistic bisexual record producer in out director Lisa Cholodenko's Laurel Canyon--as was Anna Kendrick's debut performance as a young actress and fag hag in Camp--and the gay-inclusive OT: our town is a contender in the documentary category. The directors of Flag Wars--about gentrifying gays butting heads with entrenched African-Americans in a battle over a neighborhood's future--is up for a $20,000 prize in the DirecTV/IFC Truer Than Fiction award category.
The Independent Spirit Awards will be presented Saturday, February 28, in Santa Monica, Calif. Here is a complete list of nominees for the 2004 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 First Feature: Bomb the System, House of Sand and Fog, Monster, Quattro Noza, 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: Catherine Hardwicke and Nikki Reed, Thirteen; Patty Jenkins, Monster; Thomas McCarthy, The Station Agent; Karen Moncrieff, Blue Car; Peter Sollett and Eva Vives, Raising Victor Vargas
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; 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 Garrity, Soldier's Girl; Djimon Hounsou, In America; Alessandro Nivola, Laurel Canyon; Peter Sarsgaard, Shattered Glass
Best Debut Performancc: Anna Kendrick, Camp; Judy Marte, Raising Victor Vargas; Victor Rasuk, Raising Victor Vargas; Nikki Reed, Thirteen; Janice Richardson, Anne B. Real
Best Cinematography: Elephant, Harris Savides; In America, Declan Quinn; Northfork, M. David Mullen; Quattro Noza, Derek Clanfrance; Shattered Glass, Mandy Walker
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 Sunset Strip, My Architect, OT: our town; Power Trip
Turning Leaf Someone to Watch Award: Andrew Bujalski, Funny Ha Ha; Ben Coccio, Zero Day; Ryan Eslinger, Madness and Genius
DirecTV/IFC Truer Than Fiction Award: Linda Goode Bryant and Laura Poitras, Flag Wars; Megan Mylan and Jon Shenk, Lost Boys of Sudan; Nathaniel Kahn, My Architect; Robb Moss, The Same River Twice
Producers Award: Callum Greene and Anthony Katagas, Happy Here and Now and Homework; Lauren Moews, Cabin Fever and Briar Patch; Mary Jane Skalski, The Station Agent and The Jimmy Show
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