30th Independent Spirit Awards

30th Independent Spirit Awards
30th Independent Spirit Awards
Awarded for	Best in independent film
Date	February 21, 2015
Site	Santa Monica Pier; Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Hosted by	Fred Armisen; Kristen Bell
Highlights
Best Feature	Birdman
Most awards	Birdman (3)
Most nominations	Birdman (6)
Television coverage
Channel	IFC
	← 29th; Independent Spirit Awards; 31st →;

The 30th Film Independent Spirit Awards, honoring the best independent films of 2014, were presented by Film Independent on February 21, 2015.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4] The nominations were announced on November 25, 2014.^[5] The ceremony was hosted by Fred Armisen and Kristen Bell, and aired live for the first time on IFC.^[6]

Winners and nominees

Best Feature	Best Director
Birdman Boyhood Love Is Strange Selma Whiplash	Richard Linklater – Boyhood Damien Chazelle – Whiplash Ava DuVernay – Selma Alejandro G. Iñárritu – Birdman David Zellner – Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter
Best Male Lead	Best Female Lead
*Michael Keaton – Birdman* as Riggan Thomson** André 3000 – Jimi: All Is by My Side as Jimi Hendrix Jake Gyllenhaal – Nightcrawler as Louis "Lou" Bloom John Lithgow – Love Is Strange as Ben Hull David Oyelowo – Selma as Martin Luther King Jr.	*Julianne Moore – Still Alice* as Dr. Alice Howland** Marion Cotillard – The Immigrant as Ewa Cybulska Rinko Kikuchi – Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter as Kumiko Jenny Slate – Obvious Child as Donna Stern Tilda Swinton – Only Lovers Left Alive as Eve
Best Supporting Male	Best Supporting Female
*J. K. Simmons – Whiplash* as Terence Fletcher** Riz Ahmed – Nightcrawler as Rick Ethan Hawke – Boyhood as Mason Evans Sr. Alfred Molina – Love Is Strange as George Garea Edward Norton – Birdman as Mike Shiner	*Patricia Arquette – Boyhood* as Olivia Evans** Jessica Chastain – A Most Violent Year as Anna Morales Carmen Ejogo – Selma as Coretta Scott King Andrea Suarez Paz – Stand Clear of the Closing Doors as Mariana Emma Stone – Birdman as Sam Thomson
Best Screenplay	Best First Screenplay
Dan Gilroy – Nightcrawler Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski – Big Eyes J. C. Chandor – A Most Violent Year Jim Jarmusch – Only Lovers Left Alive Ira Sachs and Mauricio Zacharias – Love Is Strange	Justin Simien – Dear White People Desiree Akhavan – Appropriate Behavior Sara Colangelo – Little Accidents Justin Lader – The One I Love Anja Marquardt – She's Lost Control
Best First Feature	Best Documentary Feature
Nightcrawler Dear White People A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night Obvious Child She's Lost Control	Citizenfour – Laura Poitras 20,000 Days on Earth – Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard The Salt of the Earth – Juliano Ribeiro Salgado and Wim Wenders Stray Dog – Debra Granik Virunga – Orlando von Einsiedel
Best Cinematography	Best Editing
Emmanuel Lubezki – Birdman Darius Khondji – The Immigrant Sean Porter – It Felt Like Love Lyle Vincent – A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night Bradford Young – Selma	Tom Cross – Whiplash Sandra Adair – Boyhood John Gilroy – Nightcrawler Ron Patane – A Most Violent Year Adam Wingard – The Guest
Best International Film
Ida (Denmark / France / Poland / United Kingdom) – Paweł Pawlikowski Force Majeure (France / Norway / Sweden) – Ruben Östlund Leviathan (Russia) – Andrey Zvyagintsev Mommy (Canada) – Xavier Dolan Norte, the End of History (Philippines) – Lav Diaz Under the Skin (Switzerland / United Kingdom) – Jonathan Glazer

Films with multiple nominations and awards

Films that received multiple nominations
Nominations	Film
6	Birdman
5	Boyhood
	Nightcrawler
	Selma
4	Love Is Strange
4	Whiplash
3	A Most Violent Year
2	A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
	The Immigrant
	Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter
	Obvious Child
	Only Lovers Left Alive
	She's Lost Control

Films that won multiple awards
Awards	Film
3	Birdman
2	Boyhood
	Nightcrawler
	Whiplash

Special awards

John Cassavetes Award

Land Ho!

Robert Altman Award

(The award is given to its film director, casting director, and ensemble cast)

Inherent Vice – Paul Thomas Anderson, Cassandra Kulukundis, Josh Brolin, Hong Chau, Benicio del Toro, Martin Donovan, Jena Malone, Joanna Newsom, Joaquin Phoenix, Sasha Pieterse, Eric Roberts, Maya Rudolph, Martin Short, Serena Scott Thomas, Katherine Waterston, Michael Kenneth Williams, Owen Wilson, and Reese Witherspoon

Kiehl's Someone to Watch Award

Recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Kiehl's since 1851.

Rania Attieh and Daniel Garcia – H.

Ana Lily Amirpour – A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
Chris Eska – The Retrieval

Piaget Producers Award

Honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce quality, independent films. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Piaget.

Chris Ohlson

Chad Burris
Elisabeth Holm

Truer than Fiction Award

Presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by LensCrafters.

Dan Krauss – The Kill Team

Sara Dosa – The Last Season
Darius Clark Monroe – Evolution of a Criminal
Amanda Rose Wilder – Approaching the Elephant

Special Distinction Award

(The award is given to its film director, producers, and ensemble cast for its uniqueness of "vision, honesty of direction and screenwriting, superb acting and achievement on every level of filmmaking")

Foxcatcher – Bennett Miller (director/producer), E. Max Frye (writer), Dan Futterman (writer), Anthony Bregman (producer), Megan Ellison (producer), Jon Kilik (producer), Steve Carell (cast), Mark Ruffalo (cast), and Channing Tatum (cast)

References

^ The Deadline Team (February 21, 2015). "'Birdman' Wins Best Feature At Spirit Awards; Richard Linklater Best Director — Winners List". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 21, 2015.
^ Film Independent (February 21, 2015). "2015 Film Independent Spirit Awards Winners Announced". PR Newswire. Archived from the original on December 7, 2023. Retrieved December 7, 2023.
^ "Congratulations to the 2015 Film Independent Spirit Award Winners!". Independent Spirit Awards. February 23, 2015. Archived from the original on October 1, 2023. Retrieved October 1, 2023.
^ Variety Staff (February 21, 2015). "Spirit Award Winners 2015: Updated List". Variety. Archived from the original on January 15, 2024. Retrieved January 15, 2024.
^ The Deadline Team (November 25, 2014). "Film Independent Spirit Award Nominations 2015 – Full List". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved November 25, 2014.
^ Hipes, Patrick (January 14, 2015). "Kristen Bell & Fred Armisen To Host Spirit Awards". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 14, 2015.

[1] The Deadline Team (February 21, 2015). "'Birdman' Wins Best Feature At Spirit Awards; Richard Linklater Best Director — Winners List". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved February 21, 2015.

[2] Film Independent (February 21, 2015). "2015 Film Independent Spirit Awards Winners Announced". PR Newswire. Archived from the original on December 7, 2023. Retrieved December 7, 2023.

[3] "Congratulations to the 2015 Film Independent Spirit Award Winners!". Independent Spirit Awards. February 23, 2015. Archived from the original on October 1, 2023. Retrieved October 1, 2023.

[4] Variety Staff (February 21, 2015). "Spirit Award Winners 2015: Updated List". Variety. Archived from the original on January 15, 2024. Retrieved January 15, 2024.

[5] The Deadline Team (November 25, 2014). "Film Independent Spirit Award Nominations 2015 – Full List". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved November 25, 2014.

[6] Hipes, Patrick (January 14, 2015). "Kristen Bell & Fred Armisen To Host Spirit Awards". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 14, 2015.

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v t e Independent Spirit Awards
Current categories	Best Film Best Director Best Lead Performance Best Supporting Performance Best Breakthrough Performance Best Cinematography Best Editing Best Documentary Feature Best First Feature Best International Film Best Screenplay Best First Screenplay Best New Scripted Series Best Lead Performance in a New Scripted Series Best Supporting Performance in a New Scripted Series John Cassavetes Award Robert Altman Award
Retired categories	Best Male Lead Best Female Lead Best Supporting Male Best Supporting Female Best Male Performance in a New Scripted Series Best Female Performance in a New Scripted Series
Ceremonies	1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 (years are of film release; ceremonies are the following year)