Spirit Awards heap noms on ‘Eighth Grade,’ ‘First Reformed’

NEW YORK >> The 34th Film Independent Spirit Awards showered nominations on Bo Burnham’s coming-of-age tale “Eighth Grade,” Lynne Ramsay’s existentialist thriller “You Were Never Really Here” and Paul Schrader’s religious drama “First Reformed” in nominees announced Friday .

Each scored four nods including best picture. Also nominated for best picture: Barry Jenkins’ James Baldwin adaptation “If Beale Street Could Talk” and Debra Granik’s father-daughter tale “Leave No Trace.”

With many of this year’s major Oscar contenders being bigger-budget studio releases like “A Star Is Born” and “Black Panther,” the Spirits threw their support behind a more idiosyncratic array of independent films from both veteran and firsttime filmmakers. The leading nominee was a directorial debut that has collected all of $66,000 at the box office: Jeremiah Zagar’s “We the Animals.” The film, a lushly poetic story of three biracial brothers, received a leading five nominations including best first feature and the “someone to watch” award.

Doled out the day before the Academy Awards, the Spirits honor independent film, selecting from nominees with budgets under $20 million. Two other Academy Awards favorites — Alfonso Cuaron’s “Roma” and Yorgos Lanthimos’ “The Favourite” — weren’t eligible for the Spirits’ main categories, but were nominated for best international feature.

That left plenty of room for films like Tamara Jenkins’ “Private Life” (three nods, including best director and best screenplay for Jenkins), Paul Dano’s directorial debut “Wildlife” (three nods, including best actress for Carey Mulligan) and Jennifer Fox’s childhood sexual abuse chronicle “The Tale” (three nods, including best first feature) to find attention.

Selection committees went especially for “Eighth Grade,” including