With this morning’s exciting announcement by Rosario Dawson and Diego Luna of the 2015 Film Independent Spirit Awards nominees, we can officially declare our 30^th birthday party started.

Big congrats to all the nominees, with special kudos to the Best Feature nominees—Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance), Boyhood, Love is Strange, Selma and Whiplash—as well as to the 12 Film Independent Fellows and 13 Members (see below) up for awards in this super special year.

Yes, we’ve been shaking up the awards season since 1985, and yet, we can reasonably conclude we’re still cool because…

…John Waters just sent us a birthday greeting.

The iconoclastic filmmaker is just one of the indie world greats who have shared their best wishes and Spirit Awards memories via video in honor of the occasion. Laura Dern reminisced over our humble beginnings. (Stay tuned for more from other famed members of our Spirit Awards family.) In his video, Waters admits, “I’d rather die than miss the Film Independent Spirit Awards. It’s my kind of crowd. Insane. Sexually confused. Financially challenged from maxing out their credit cards to get the movie made. Filled with unhinged optimism in the face of the grim realities of show business.”

You can take part in the celebration by joining Film Independent: Only Members Vote.

The full list of the 2015 Nominees can be found below, but make sure to visit our brand new Spirit Awards website for much, much more.

Pamela Miller / Website & Grants Manager

BEST FEATURE
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) Producers: Alejandro G. Iñárritu, John Lesher, Arnon Milchan, James W. Skotchdopole
Boyhood Producers: Richard Linklater, Jonathan Sehring, John Sloss, Cathleen Sutherland
Love is Strange Producers: Lucas Joaquin, Lars Knudsen, Ira Sachs, Jayne Baron  Sherman, Jay Van Hoy
Selma Producers: Christian Colson, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Oprah Winfrey
Whiplash Producers: Jason Blum, Helen Estabrook, David Lancaster, Michael Litvak

BEST DIRECTOR
Damien Chazelle Whiplash
Ava DuVernay Selma
Alejandro G. Iñárritu Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Richard Linklater Boyhood
David Zellner Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter

BEST SCREENPLAY
Scott Alexander & Larry Karaszewski Big Eyes
J.C. Chandor A Most Violent Year
Dan Gilroy Nightcrawler
Jim Jarmusch Only Lovers Left Alive
Ira Sachs & Mauricio Zacharias    Love is Strange

BEST FIRST FEATURE
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night Director: Ana Lily Amirpour, Producers: Justin Begnaud, Sina Sayyah
Dear White People Director/Producer: Justin Simien, Producers: Effie T. Brown, Ann Le, Julia Lebedev, Angel Lopez, Lena Waithe
Nightcrawler Director: Dan Gilroy, Producers: Jennifer Fox, Tony Gilroy, Jake Gyllenhaal, David Lancaster, Michel Litvak
Obvious Child Director: Gillian Robespierre, Producer: Elisabeth Holm
She’s Lost Control Director/Producer: Anja Marquardt, Producers: Mollye Asher, Kiara C. Jones

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Desiree Akhavan Appropriate Behavior
Sara Colangelo Little Accidents
Justin Lader The One I Love
Anja Marquardt She’s Lost Control
Justin Simien Dear White People

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD (best feature made for under $500,000)
Blue Ruin Writer/Director: Jeremy Saulnier,Producers:  Richard Peete, Vincent Savino, Anish Savjani
It Felt Like Love, Writer/Director/Producer: Eliza Hittman, Producers: Shrihari Sathe, Laura Wagner
Land Ho! Writers/Directors: Aaron Katz & Martha Stephens,Producers: Christina Jennings, Mynette Louie, Sara Murphy
Man From Reno Writer/Director: Dave BoyleWriters: Joel Clark, Michael Lerman, Producer: Ko Mori
Test Writer/Director/Producer: Chris Mason Johnson, Producer: Chris Martin

BEST FEMALE LEAD
Marion Cotillard The Immigrant
Rinko Kikuchi Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter
Julianne Moore Still Alice
Jenny Slate Obvious Child
Tilda Swinton Only Lovers Left Alive          

BEST MALE LEAD
André BenjaminJimi: All Is By My Side
Jake Gyllenhaal Nightcrawler
Michael Keaton Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
John Lithgow Love is Strange
David Oyelowo Selma

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
Patricia Arquette Boyhood
Jessica Chastain A Most Violent Year
Carmen Ejogo Selma
Andrea Suarez Paz Stand Clear of the Closing Doors
Emma Stone Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

BEST SUPPORTING MALE
Riz AhmedNightcrawler
Ethan Hawke Boyhood
Alfred Molina Love is Strange
Edward Norton Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
J.K. Simmons Whiplash

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Darius Khondji The Immigrant
Emmanuel Lubezki Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Sean Porter It Felt Like Love
Lyle Vincent A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
Bradford Young Selma

BEST EDITING     
Sandra Adair Boyhood
Tom Cross Whiplash
John Gilroy Nightcrawler
Ron Patane A Most Violent Year
Adam Wingard The Guest

BEST DOCUMENTARY
20,000 Days on Earth Directors: Iain Forsyth & Jane Pollard, Producers: Dan Bowen, James Wilson
CITIZENFOUR Director/Producer: Laura Poitras, Producers: Mathilde Bonnefoy, Dirk Wilutzky
Stray Dog Director: Debra Granik, Producer: Anne Rosellini
The Salt of the Earth Directors: Juliano Ribeiro Salgado and Wim Wenders, Producer: David Rosier
Virunga Director/Producer: Orlando Von Einsiedel, Producer: Joanna Natasegara

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
Force Majeure (Sweden)Director: Ruben Östlund
Ida (Poland)Director: Pawel Pawlikowski
Leviathan (Russia)Director: Andrey Zvyagintsev
Mommy (Canada)Director: Xavier Dolan
Norte, the End of History (Philippines)Director: Lav Diaz
Under the Skin (United Kingdom)Director: Jonathan Glazer

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD
Inherent Vice
Director: Paul Thomas Anderson
Casting Director: Cassandra Kulukundis
Ensemble Cast: Josh Brolin, Hong Chau, Martin Donovan, Jena Malone, Joanna Newsom, Joaquin Phoenix, Sasha Pieterse, Eric Roberts, Maya Rudolph, Martin Short, Serena Scott Thomas, Benicio Del Toro, Katherine Waterston, Michael Kenneth Williams, Owen Wilson, Reese Witherspoon

SPECIAL DISTINCTION AWARD
Foxcatcher
Director/Producer: Bennett Miller
Producers: Anthony Bregman, Megan Ellison, Jon Kilik
Writers: E. Max Frye, Dan Futterman
Actors: Steve Carell, Mark Ruffalo, Channing Tatum

PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD
Chad Burris
Elisabeth Holm
Chris Ohlson

KIEHL’S SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD
A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night Director: Ana Lily Amirpour
H. Directors: Rania Attieh & Daniel Garcia
The Retrieval Director: Chris Eska

LENSCRAFTERS TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD
Approaching the Elephant, Director:Amanda Rose Wilder
Evolution of a Criminal Director: Darius Clark Monroe
The Kill Team Director: Dan Krauss
The Last Season Director: Sara Dosa

Film Independent Members
Dan Futterman (Screenwriter, Foxcatcher)
Dede Gardner (Producer, Selma)
Julia Lebedev (Producer, Dear White People)
Michel Litvak (Producer, Nightcrawler, Whiplash)
Anne Rosellini (Producer, Stray Dog)
Chad Burris (Piaget Producers Award)
Chris Eska (Director, The Retrieval)
Chris Ohlson (Piaget Producers Award)
Mollye Asher (Producer, She’s Lost Control)
Anish Savjani (Producer. Blue Ruin)
Mynette Louie (Producer, Land Ho!)
Larry Karaszewski (Screenwriter, Big Eyes)
Joel Clark (Screenwriter, Man From Reno)

Film Independent Fellows
Ana Lily Amirpour, Director, A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night (Screenwriting Lab, Directing Lab, Fast Track)
Justin Begnaud, Producer, A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night (Producing Lab)
Justin Simien Writer/Director/Producer, Dear White People (Project Involve)
Effie T. Brown, Producer, Dear White People (Project Involve)
Ann Le, Producer, Dear White People (Project Involve)
Mollye Asher, Producer, She’s Lost Control (Fast Track, Producing Lab)
Anish Savjani, Producer,  Blue Ruin (Grant Recipient)
Shrihari Sathe, Producer, It Felt Like Love (Producing Lab, Fast Track)
Mynette Louie, Producer, Land Ho! (Grant Recipient, Fast Track)
Dave Boyle, Writer/Director, Man From Reno (Grant Recipient)
Chris Mason Johnson, Writer/Director/Producer, Test (Screenwriting Lab)
Chad Burris, Piaget Producers Award (Grant Recipient)