2016 AWARD SEASON BEGINS

With the first round of award season just beginning, "Manchester by The Sea" received the top prize from the National Board of Review for Best Film while "Moonlight" tied with "American Honey" with the most nominations at six from the 2016 Independent Spirit Awards. "Manchester" did receive five noms including Best Feature from the Spirits although director, Kenneth Lonergan was absent from the Best Director category.

Some notable wins from the NBR include the surprising choice of Amy Adams for Best Actress for "Arrival", Jeff Bridges taking the Best Supporting Actor prize for the sleeper hit, "Hell or High Water" and "Kubo and the Two Strings" beating "Zootopia" for Best Animated Feature. And for a film that has barely been screened, Jay Cocks and Martin Scorsese taking the Best Adapted Screenplay award for "Silence" was certainly unexpected.

The Spirit Awards, which highlights the best in indie cinema, will bring some much needed attention with nominations to some great films and performances from this year that might get overlooked. Some of these include "Little Men", "Other People" that also features the amazing work by Jesse Plemons and Molly Shannon, Lily Gladstone in "Certain Women", "Spa Night", Ralph Fiennes in “A Bigger Splash” and the perfectly creepy, New England horror flick, "The Witch".

2016 National Board of Review winners:

Best Film: "Manchester by the Sea"
Best Director: Barry Jenkins, "Moonlight"
Best Actor: Casey Affleck, "Manchester by the Sea"
Best Actress: Amy Adams, "Arrival"
Best Supporting Actor: Jeff Bridges, "Hell or High Water"
Best Supporting Actress: Naomie Harris, "Moonlight"
Best Original Screenplay: Kenneth Lonergan, "Manchester by the Sea"
Best Adapted Screenplay: Jay Cocks and Martin Scorsese, "Silence"
Best Animated Feature: "Kubo and the Two Strings"
Breakthrough Performance (Male): Lucas Hedges, "Manchester by the Sea"
Breakthrough Performance (Female): Royalty Hightower, "The Fits"
Best Directorial Debut: Trey Edward Shults, "Krisha"
Best Foreign Language Film: "The Salesman"
Best Documentary: "O.J.: Made in America"
Best Ensemble: "Hidden Figures"
NBR Freedom of Expression Award: "Cameraperson"

2016 Film Independent Spirit Awards Nominations

Best Feature:

“American Honey”
“Chronic”
“Jackie”
“Manchester by the Sea”
“Moonlight”

Best Director:

Andrea Arnold, “American Honey”
Barry Jenkins, “Moonlight”
Pablo Larrain, “Jackie”
Jeff Nichols, “Loving”
Kelly Reichardt, “Certain Women”

Best Screenplay:

Taylor Sheridan, “Hell or High Water”
Ira Sachs & Mauricio Zacharias, “Little Men”
Kenneth Lonergan, “Manchester by the Sea”
Barry Jenkins, “Moonlight”
Mike Mills, “20th Century Women”

Best First Feature:

“The Childhood of a Leader”
“The Fits”
“Other People”
“Swiss Army Man”
“The Witch”

Best First Screenplay:

Adam Mansbach, “Barry”
Craig Shilowich, “Christine”
Stella Meghie, “Jean of the Joneses”
Chris Kelly, “Other People”
Robert Eggers, “The Witch”

Best Male Lead:

Casey Affleck, “Manchester by the Sea”
David Harewood, “Free in Deed”
Viggo Mortensen, “Captain Fantastic”
Jesse Plemons, “Other People”
Tim Roth, “Chronic”

Best Female Lead:

Annette Bening, “20th Century Women”
Isabelle Huppert, “Elle”
Sasha Lane, “American Honey”
Ruth Negga, “Loving”
Natalie Portman, “Jackie”

Best Supporting Male:

Ralph Fiennes, “A Bigger Splash”
Ben Foster, “Hell or High Water”
Lucas Hedges, “Manchester by the Sea”
Shia LaBeouf, “American Honey”
Craig Robinson, “Morris from America”

Best Supporting Female:

Edwina Findley, “Free in Deed”
Paulina Garcia, “Little Men”
Lily Gladstone, “Certain Women”
Riley Keough, “American Honey”
Molly Shannon, “Other People”

Best International Film:

“Aquarius” (Brazil)
“Chevalier” (Greece)
“My Golden Days” (France)
“Toni Erdmann” (Germany/Romania)
“Under the Shadow” (Iran/United Kingdom)

Best Documentary Feature:

“13th”
“Cameraperson”
“I Am Not Your Negro”
“O.J.: Made in America”
“Sonita”
“Under the Sun”

Best Cinematography:

“American Honey”
“Childhood”
“Free in Deed”
“Eyes of My Mother”
“Moonlight”

Best Editing:

“Hell or High Water”
“Jackie”
“Manchester by the Sea”
“Moonlight”
“Swiss Army Man”

John Cassavetes Award:

“Free in Deed”
“Hunter Gatherer”
“Lovesong”
“Nakom”
“Spa Night”

Robert Altman Award: “Moonlight”

Truer Than Fiction Award:

Kristi Jacobson, “Solitary”
Sara Jordeno, “Kiki”
Nanfu Wang, “Holligan Sparrow”

Someone to Watch Award:

Andrew Ahn, “Spa Night”
Claire Carre, “Embers”
Anna Rose Holmer, “The Fits”
Ingrid Jungermann, “Women Who Kill”