González Iñárritu, Lubezki, Molina, Suárez Paz Among Latinos Nominated at the 2015 Film Independent Spirit Awards

The work of Latinos are well represented at the 2015 Film Independent Spirit Awards (also known as the Spirit Awards). The nominations were announced by Rosario Dawson and Diego Luna at the W Hotel in Hollywood. The winners will be announced on Saturday, February 21, 2015 (the day before the Academy Awards) in ceremonies traditionally held in a white tent on Santa Monica Beach, California. The show will be telecast on the IFC network.

Alejandro González Iñárritu.

This year, for the Spirit's 30th annual awards ceremony, the film with the most nominations, Birdman (or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), boasts a director, screeenwriters, cinematographer, and score composer of Latino descent. Among its six nominations included nods for direction (Alejandro González Iñárritu), male lead (Michael Keaton), supporting male (Edward Norton), supporting female (Emma Stone), cinematography (Emmanuel Lubezki) and best feature film (for which González Iñárritu is also one of the producers).

Emmanuel Lubezki.

To be eligible for the Film Independent Spirit Awards, film budgets must not exceed U.S.$20 million. In addition, it is required that there be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident in two of three categories: director, writer and producer.

Other Latinos nominated for Film Independent Spirit awards include Alfred Molina (supporting male, for Love is Strange), Mauricio Zacharias (screenplay, for co-writing the film Love is Strange with Ira Sachs), Andrea Suárez Paz (supporting female, for Stand Clear of the Closing Doors), and Juliano Ribeiro Salgado (documentary, for co-directing The Salt of the Earth with Wim Wenders).

Andrea Suárez Paz.

In addition, Benicio Del Toro, along with the rest of the ensemble cast, director (Paul Thomas Anderson), and casting director (Cassandra Kulukundis) of Inherent Vice, will receive the Robert Altman Award (the film's budget was too high to be eligible for other categories). Daniel García (and Rania Attieh) will receive the 21st annual Kiehl's Someone To Watch Award (given to talented filmmakers of singular vision who have not yet received appropriate recognition) for the film H. Along with the directors of the films A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night and The Retrieval, the filmmakers will each receive a U.S.$25,000 unrestricted grant courtesy of Kiehl's.

For more information about the Film Independent Spirit Awards, click here.