‘Anomalisa’ Scores 4 Independent Spirit Nominations

Nominations for the 31st Film Independent Spirit Awards were announced today, and the stop motion film Anomalisa scored four major nominations.

Anomalisa picked up a nod for best feature, alongside the live-action films Beasts of No Nation, Carol, Spotlight, and Tangerine The film also received nominations for best director (Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson), best screenplay (Charlie Kaufman), and, a first for the Independent Spirit, best supporting female (Jennifer Jason Leigh).

One of the most critically-acclaimed films of the year, with a 100% rating currently on Rotten Tomatoes, Anomalisa’s nominations are notable in that they happened at an award show that doesn’t typically recognize animated filmmaking. In fact, in the award’s 30-year-history, the Independent Spirit awards have recognized only one other animated film, Richard Linklater’s Waking Life, which was nominated for best feature, director, and screenplay in 2001.

While the feature animation category of the Oscars has had the unintended effect of ghettoizing animation, Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson’s Anomalisa is rewriting the playbook this year, showing that great animation can compete against anything, even live action.

The Independent Spirit awards will be presented in Los Angeles on Saturday, February 27, 2016, the day before the Academy Awards.