Movie

'Rachel Getting Married', 'Ballast' and 'Frozen River' are tied as the leaders of the 2009 Spirit Awards' nominees with six nods each.

• Dec 3, 2008

AceShowbiz - Family drama "Rachel Getting Married", border-smuggling saga "Frozen River" and struggling mother tale "Ballast" have shown their domination on the run for the 2009 Spirit Awards. Upon the announcement of the awards' nominees on Tuesday, December 2, it has been revealed that those three films have collected six counts each.

From all of the nominations "Rachel", "Frozen" and "Ballast" received, the three will have to go head-to-head for best feature title along with "Wendy and Lucy" and "The Wrestler". Their directors, Jonathan Demme, Courtney Hunt and Lance Hammer, will also compete for the best director prize which also lists Ramin Bahrani of "Chop Shop" and Tom McCarthy of "The Visitor" as the competitors.

On the performer categories, it is uncovered that Javier Bardem of "Vicky Cristina Barcelona", Sean Penn of "Milk" and Mickey Rourke of "The Wrestler" are among the contenders for best male lead. Additionally, Anne Hathaway and Michelle Williams have been nominated for the best female lead kudo, whereas Penelope Cruz will face off against Rosemarie DeWitt, Rosie Perez, Misty Upham and Debra Winger for the supporting female prize.

While the announcement of the nominees has been delivered by Sandra Oh and Jason Bateman at the Hotel Sofitel in Los Angeles at 8 A.M., the 2009 Film International's Spirit Awards itself will be held in Santa Monica on February 21, 2009, a day before the Academy Awards. The ceremony will include the annual presentation of Robert Altman Award for an ensemble film. This year it will be given to Charlie Kaufman's "Synecdoche, New York".

Full nominees list of 2009 Spirit Awards:

Feature (Award given to the producer):

• "Ballast" - Producers: Lance Hammer, Nina Parikh
• "Frozen River" - Producers: Chip Hourihan, Heather Rae
• "Rachel Getting Married" - Producers: Jonathan Demme, Neda Armin, Marc Platt
• "Wendy and Lucy" - Producers: Larry Fessenden, Neil Kopp, Anish Savjani
• "The Wrestler" - Producers: Darren Aronofsky, Scott Franklin

• Ramin Bahrani, "Chop Shop"
• Jonathan Demme, "Rachel Getting Married"
• Lance Hammer, "Ballast"
• Courtney Hunt, "Frozen River"
• Tom McCarthy, "The Visitor"

• "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

• Javier Bardem, "Vicky Cristina Barcelona"
• Richard Jenkins, "The Visitor"
• Sean Penn, "Milk"
• Jeremy Renner, "The Hurt Locker"
• Mickey Rourke, "The Wrestler"

• Summer Bishil, "Towelhead"
• Anne Hathaway, "Rachel Getting Married"
• Melissa Leo, "Frozen River"
• Tarra Riggs, "Ballast"
• Michelle Williams, "Wendy and Lucy"

• James Franco, "Milk"
• Anthony Mackie, "The Hurt Locker"
• Charlie McDermott, "Frozen River"
• Jim Myron Ross, "Ballast"
• Haaz Sleiman, "The Visitor"

• Penelope Cruz, "Vicky Cristina Barcelona"
• Rosemarie DeWitt, "Rachel Getting Married"
• Rosie Perez, "The Take"
• Misty Upham, "Frozen River"
• Debra Winger, "Rachel Getting Married"

• 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"

• Dustin Lance Black, "Milk"
• Lance Hammer, "Ballast"
• Courtney Hunt, "Frozen River"
• Jonathan Levine, "The Wackness"
• Jenny Lumet, "Rachel Getting Married"

• Maryse Alberti, "The Wrestler"
• Lol Crawley, "Ballast"
• James Laxton, "Medicine for Melancholy"
• Harris Savides, "Milk"
• Michael Simmonds, "Chop Shop"

• "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

• "The Betrayal" - Director: Ellen Kuras and Thavisouk Phrasavath
• "Encounters at the End of the World" - Director: Werner Herzog
• "Man on Wire" - Director: James Marsh
• "The Order of Myths" - Director: Margaret Brown
• "Up the Yangtze" - Director: Yung Chang

• "The Class" (France) - Director: Laurent Cantet
• "Gomorra" (Italy) - Director: Matteo Garrone
• "Hunger" (UK/Ireland) - Director: Steve McQueen
• "Secret of the Grain" (France) - Director: Abdellatif Kechiche
• "Silent Light" (Mexico/France/Netherlands/Germany) - Director: Carlos Reygadas

• Barry Jenkins, director of "Medicine for Melancholy"
• Nina Paley, director of "Sita Sings the Blues"
• Lynn Shelton, director of "My Effortless Brilliance"

• Margaret Brown, director of "The Order of Myths"
• Sacha Gervasi, director of "Anvil! The Story of Anvil"
• Darius Marder, director of "Loot"

• Lars Knudsen and Jay Van Hoy, producers of "Treeless Mountain" and "I'll Come Running"
• Jason Orans, producer of "Goodbye Solo" and "Year of the Fish"
• Heather Rae, producer of "Frozen River"