The Irish-UK feature film ‘Hunger’ has been nominated for the Film Independent’s Spirit Awards in the category of Best Foreign Film.
Directed by Steve McQueen, starring Irish actors Michael Fassbender and Liam Cunningham and shot on location in Northern Ireland, ‘Hunger’ follows the final 66 days in the life of famous hunger striker Bobby Sands. The film has received critical acclaim across the globe with the Camera d’Or Award at the Cannes Film Festival among its many accolades received.
‘Hunger’ goes up against Laurent Cantet’s ‘The Class’, Matteo Garrone’s ‘Gomorra’, Abdellatif Kechiche’s ‘Secret of the Grain’ and Carlos Reygadas’ ‘Silent Light’ for the Independent Spirit award.
‘Hunger’ is funded by Northern Ireland Screen and the BCI and was co-written by award winning playwright Enda Walsh (Disco Pigs) and Steve McQueen.
Winners will be announced on 21st February 2009 in Los Angeles.
The full list of nominees is below:
BEST FEATURE (award given to the producer)
Ballast (Lance Hammer, Nina Parikh)
Frozen River (Chip Hourihan, Heather Rae)
Rachel Getting Married (Jonathan Demme, Neda Armin, Marc Platt)
Wendy And Lucy (Larry Fessenden, Neil Kopp, Anish Savjani)
The Wrestler (Darren Aronofsky, Scott Franklin)
BEST DIRECTOR
Ramin Bahrani – Chop Shop
Jonathan Demme – Rachel Getting Married
Lance Hammer – Ballast
Courtney Hunt – Frozen River
Tom McCarthy – The Visitor
BEST FIRST FEATURE (award given to the director and producer)
Afterschool (director Antonio Campos; producers Sean Durkin, Josh Mond)
Medicine For Melancholy (director Barry Jenkins; producer Justin Barber)
Sangre De Mi Sangre (director Christopher Zalla; producers Per Melita,
Benjamin Odell)
Sleep Dealer (director Alex Rivera; producer Anthony Bregman)
Synecdoche, New York (director Charlie Kaufman; producers Anthony
Bregman, Spike Jonze, Charlie Kaufman, Sidney Kimmel)
BEST SCREENPLAY
Woody Allen – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck – Sugar
Charlie Kaufman – Synecdoche, New York
Howard A Rodman – Savage Grace
Christopher Zalla – Sangre De Mi Sangre
JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD (presented to the best feature made for under
$500,000; award given to the writer, director, and producer)
In Search Of A Midnight Kiss – writer-director Alex Holdridge;
producers Seth Caplan, Scoot McNairy
Prince Of Broadway – director Sean Baker; writers Sean Baker, Darren
Dean; producer Darren Dean
The Signal – writer-directors David Bruckner, Dan Bush, Jacob Gentry;
producers Jacob Gentry, Alexander Motlagh
Take Out – writer-director-producers Sean Baker, Shih-Ching Tsou
Turn The River – writer-director Chris Eigeman; producer Ami Armstrong
BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Dustin Lance Black – Milk
Lance Hammer – Ballast
Courtney Hunt – Frozen River
Jonathan Levine – The Wackness
Jenny Lumet – Rachel Getting Married
BEST FEMALE LEAD
Summer Bishil – Towelhead
Anne Hathaway – Rachel Getting Married
Melissa Leo – Frozen River
Tarra Riggs – Ballast
Michelle Williams – Wendy And Lucy
BEST MALE LEAD
Javier Bardem – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Richard Jenkins – The Visitor
Sean Penn – Milk
Jeremy Renner – The Hurt Locker
Mickey Rourke – The Wrestler
BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
Penelope Cruz – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Rosemarie DeWitt – Rachel Getting Married
Rosie Perez – The Take
Misty Upham – Frozen River
Debra Winger – Rachel Getting Married
BEST SUPPORTING MALE
James Franco – Milk
Anthony Mackie – The Hurt Locker
Charlie McDermott – Frozen River
JimMyron Ross – Ballast
Haaz Sleiman – The Visitor
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Maryse Alberti – The Wrestler
Lol Crawley – Ballast
James Laxton – Medicine For Melancholy
Harris Savides – Milk
Michael Simmonds – Chop Shop
BEST DOCUMENTARY (award given to the director)
The Betrayal –Ellen Kuras and Thavisouk Phrasavath
Encounters At The End Of The World – Werner Herzog
Man On Wire – James Marsh
The Order Of Myths – Margaret Brown
Up The Yangtze – Yung Chang
BEST FOREIGN FILM (award given to the director)
The Class (France) – Laurent Cantet
Gomorra (Italy) – Matteo Garrone
Hunger (UK/Ireland) – Steve McQueen
Secret Of The Grain (France) – Abdellatif Kechiche
Silent Light (Mexico/France/Netherlands/Germany) – Carlos Reygadas
ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD (given to one film's director, casting director
and its ensemble cast)
Synecdoche, New York
Director – Charlie Kaufman
Casting Director – Jeanne McCarthy
Ensemble Cast: Hope Davis, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jennifer Jason
Leigh, Catherine Keener, Samantha Morton, Tom Noonan, Emily Watson,
Dianne Wiest, Michelle Williams