Black Swan, Winter's Bone, Greenberg Snag Top Spirit Award Nominations

Eva Mendes and Jeremy Renner were on hand to announce this year's nominees for the Film Independent Spirit Awards, the prizes traditionally handed out the night before the Academy Awards and recognizing the independent films that might be too small, weird or generally out-there for Oscar attention. Nominated for the top prize of Best Feature were 127 Hours, Black Swan, Greenberg, The Kids Are All Right, Winter's Bone-- all films, save Greenberg, firmly in the Oscar race as well.

Also well-represented in the nominations was Rabbit Hole, nominated for Best Director for John Cameron MItchell, Best Screenplay for David Lindsay-Abaire as well as dual acting nominations for stars Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart. There was also special mention for Nicole Holofcener's Please Give, which snagged a Best Screenplay nod as well as the Robert Altman prize for ensemble acting.

Films with strong Oscar buzz often do well at the Independent Spirits, no matter how much they may claim to be an alternative to the status quo, and with Winter's Bone having cleaned up at last night's Gotham Awards, it's a real contender here too. Check out the full list of nominees below (via IFC.com) and let us know your favorite choices in the comments.

BEST FEATURE

127 Hours

Black Swan

Greenberg

The Kids Are All Right

Winter's Bone

BEST DIRECTOR

Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan

Danny Boyle, 127 Hours

Lisa Cholodenko, The Kids Are All Right

Debra Granik, Winter's Bone

John Cameron Mitchell, Rabbit Hole

BEST SCREENPLAY

Stuart Blumberg, Lisa Cholodenko, The Kids Are All Right

Debra Granik, Anne Rosellini, Winter's Bone

Nicole Holofcener, Please Give

David Lindsay-Abaire, Rabbit Hole

Todd Solondz, Life During Wartime

BEST FIRST FEATURE

Everything Strange and New

Get Low

Night Catches Us

The Last Exorcism

Tiny Furniture

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY

Diane Bell, Obselidia

Lena Dunham, Tiny Furniture

Nik Fackler, Lovely, Still

Bob Glaudini, Jack Goes Boating

Dana Adam Shapiro, Evan M. Wiener, Monogamy

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD

Daddy Longlegs

Lbs.

Lovers of Hate

Obselidia

The Exploding Girl

BEST FEMALE LEAD

Annette Bening, The Kids Are All Right

Greta Gerwig, Greenberg

Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole

Jennifer Lawrence, Winter's Bone

Natalie Portman, Black Swan

Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine

BEST MALE LEAD

Ronald Bronstein, Daddy Longlegs

Aaron Eckhart, Rabbit Hole

James Franco, 127 Hours

John C. Reilly, Cyrus

Ben Stiller, Greenberg

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE

Ashley Bell, The Last Exorcism

Dale Dickey, Winter's Bone

Allison Janney, Life During Wartime

Daphne Rubin-Vega, Jack Goes Boating

Naomi Watts, Mother and Child

BEST SUPPORTING MALE

John Hawkes, Winter's Bone

Samuel L. Jackson, Mother and Child

Bill Murray, Get Low

John Ortiz, Jack Goes Boating

Mark Ruffalo, The Kids Are All Right

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Adam Kimmel, Never Let Me Go

Matthew Libatique, Black Swan

Jody Lee Lipes, Tiny Furniture

Michael McDonough, Winter's Bone

Harris Savides, Greenberg

BEST DOCUMENTARY

Exit Through the Gift Shop

Marwencol

Restrepo

Sweetgrass

Thunder Soul

BEST FOREIGN FILM

Kisses

Mademoiselle Chambon

Of Gods and Men

The King's Speech

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives

ACURA SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD

Hossein Keshavarz, Dog Sweat

Laurel Nakadate, The Wolf Knife

Mike Ott, Littlerock

PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD

In-Ah Lee, Au Revoir Taipei

Adele Romanski, The Myth of the American Sleepover

Anish Savjani, Meek's Cutoff

AVEENO® TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD

Ilisa Barbash, Lucien Castaing-Taylor, Sweetgrass

Jeff Malmberg, Marwencol

Lynn True, Nelson Walker, Summer Pasture

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD

Please Give

Director: Nicole Holofcener

Casting Director: Jeanne McCarthy

Ensemble Cast: Ann Guilbert, Rebecca Hall, Catherine Keener, Amanda Peet, Oliver Platt, Lois Smith, Sarah Steele

Katey Rich

Staff Writer at CinemaBlend