Announcing the 2015 Spirit Awards Nominees

Award season is almost here, and we're about to find out what movies will dominate this year's spate of award shows. The Spirit Awards are up first, and even though its focus is on honoring independent film, you'll find a lot of stars and films here that will show up in other nomination lists, too. This year, a few movies that have already been getting buzz cemented their place with this list, like Whiplash, Boyhood, Birdman, and Nightcrawler. Get the full list below!

BEST FEATURE
Birdman
Boyhood
Love Is Strange
Selma
Whiplash

BEST DIRECTOR
Damien Chazelle, Whiplash
Ava DuVernay, Selma
Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Birdman
Richard Linklater, Boyhood
David Zellner, Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter

BEST FIRST FEATURE (award given to the director and producer)
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
Dear White People
Nightcrawler
Obvious Child
She's Lost Control

BEST SCREENPLAY
Big Eyes by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski
A Most Violent Year by J.C. Chandor
Nightcrawler by Dan Gilroy
Only Lovers Left Alive by Jim Jarmusch
Love Is Strange by Ira Sachs and Mauricio Zacharias

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Appropriate Behavior by Desiree Akhavan
Little Accidents by Sara Colangelo
The One I Love by Justin Lader
She's Lost Control by Anja Marquardt
Dear White People by Justin Simien

BEST FEMALE LEAD
Marion Cotillard, The Immigrant
Rinko Kikuchi, Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter
Julianne Moore, Still Alice
Jenny Slate, Obvious Child
Tilda Swinton, Only Lovers Left Alive

BEST MALE LEAD
André Benjamin, Jimi: All Is By My Side
Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler
Michael Keaton, Birdman
John Lithgow, Love Is Strange
David Oyelowo, Selma

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Jessica Chastain, A Most Violent Year
Carmen Ejogo, Selma
Andrea Suarez Paz, Stand Clear of the Closing Doors
Emma Stone, Birdman

BEST SUPPORTING MALE
Riz Ahmed, Nightcrawler
Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
Alfred Molina, Love Is Strange
Edward Norton, Birdman
J.K. Simmons, Whiplash

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
The Immigrant
Birdman
It Felt Like Love
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
Selma

BEST FILM EDITING
Boyhood
Whiplash
Nightcrawler
A Most Violent Year
The Guest

BEST DOCUMENTARY
20,000 Days on Earth
CITIZENFOUR
Stray Dog
The Salt of the Earth
Virunga

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
Force Majeure
Ida
Leviathan
Mommy
Norte, the End of History
Under the Skin

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD
Inherent Vice

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD (given to the best feature made for under $500,000)
Blue Ruin
It Felt Like Love
Land Ho
Man from Reno
Test

SPECIAL DISTINCTION AWARD
Foxcatcher

18th ANNUAL PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD
Chad Burris
Elisabeth Holm
Chris Ohlson

21st ANNUAL KIEHL'S SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
H.
The Retrieval

20th ANNUAL LENSCRAFTERS TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD
Approaching the Elephant
Evolution of a Criminal
The Kill Team
The Last Season