Spirit Awards announces ’08 film nominees

“I’m Not There,” Todd Haynes’ quirky biopic on Bob Dylan, may have puzzled mainstream critics and audiences with its surrealistic vision of casting several actors and actresses as the famed troubadour -- a deep knowledge of Dylan and an open mind are recommended -- but the indie world has embraced the film, as evidenced Tuesday by its domination of the first major award nominations of the season.

The movie received four nods and a new award named for late indie legend Robert Altman when the 23rd annual Film Independent Spirit Award nominations were announced Tuesday morning. “I’m Not There” was nominated in the categories of best feature, best director, best supporting female (Cate Blanchett) and best supporting male (Marcus Carl Franklin). The Robert Altman Award will be given to Haynes, casting director Laura Rosenthal and ensemble cast members.

Joining “I’m Not There” in the best feature film category was the French-language drama “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly,” Julian Schnabel’s Cannes Film Festival favorite based on the life of Jean-Dominique Bauby, the former editor of French Elle magazine who became paralyzed after suffering a massive stroke. “Juno,” Jason Reitman’s bittersweet comedy about a pregnant teenager, also was nominated in the category, as was Michael Winterbottom’s adaptation of Mariane Pearl’s memoir, “A Mighty Heart,” and Gus Van Sant’s “Paranoid Park,” which won a special prize at Cannes. “Paranoid Park” is the only nominee not opening in theaters this year.

Film Independent Executive Director Dawn Hudson described this year’s nominations as “very eclectic and very international. It’s very representative of the whole spectrum of independent films from well-known veteran filmmakers like Todd Haynes and Gus Van Sant to newcomers. It is an incredibly exciting year. There are so many good films and in so many different genres. . . . The goal of the Spirit Awards is to shine a light on these films.”

Producer Kathleen Kennedy, whose credits include “Diving Bell” and the animated entry “Persepolis,” which was nominated in the foreign film category, said that the Spirit nominations help increase awareness of smaller movies going into the crowded holiday season. “I’m thrilled just getting to know about these movies,” she said.

Reitman agreed: “Look, when we have this kind of success [in the nominations], it opens people’s eyes and makes them aware.”

Reitman’s young star Ellen Page was nominated for best female lead for her role in “Juno.” She’ll compete against Angelina Jolie for “A Mighty Heart,” Sienna Miller for “Interview,” Parker Posey for “Broken English” and Tang Wei for “Lust, Caution.”

Pedro Castaneda was nominated for best male lead for “August Evening.” Other nominees in the category include Don Cheadle for “Talk to Me,” Philip Seymour Hoffman for “The Savages,” Frank Langella for “Starting Out in the Evening” and Tony Leung for “Lust, Caution.”

In addition to Blanchett, nominees for best supporting female are Anna Kendrick for “Rocket Science,” Jennifer Jason Leigh for “Margot at the Wedding,” Tamara Podemski for “Four Sheets to the Wind” and Marisa Tomei for “Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead.”

Joining Franklin in the supporting male category are Chiwetel Ejiofor for “Talk to Me,” Kene Holliday for “Great World of Sound,” Irfan Khan for “The Namesake” and Steve Zahn for “Rescue Dawn.”

Besides Haynes, best director nominees are Tamara Jenkins for “The Savages,” Reitman for “Juno,” Schnabel for “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” and Van Sant for “Paranoid Park.”

Jenkins, who also was nominated for the screenplay for her biting, dark comedy, was in her psychiatrist’s office when she got the news of the four nominations for “Savages.” “I got to digest it all with a professional in the room,” she said, laughing.

Also nominated for best screenplay were Ronald Harwood for “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly,” Fred Parnes and Andrew Wagner for “Starting Out in the Evening” and Mike White for “Year of the Dog.” Adrienne Shelly received a posthumous nomination for her script for “Waitress.”

Lisa Kudrow and actor Zach Braff announced the nominees at the Sofitel Los Angeles hotel.

The Spirit Awards will be presented Feb. 23, the day before the Oscars, at a ceremony in a massive tent on the beach in Santa Monica. Winners are chosen by Film Independent members with voting privileges extended to IFP members.

To be eligible, films must be at least 70 minutes in length; the cost of the completed film, including post-production, has to be less than $20 million.

The 2008 Film Independent Spirit Awards ceremony will air uncut and commercial-free on the Independent Film Channel; an edited version will air later in the evening on AMC.

susan.king@latimes.com