Gay romance 'Call Me By Your Name' leads indie Spirit nominations

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - “Call Me By Your Name,” a coming-of-age drama of two young men falling in love, led the Independent Spirit Awards nominations on Tuesday.

FILE PHOTO: Cast member Timothee Chalamet attends the premiere of "Call Me By Your Name" during AFI Fest 2017 in Los Angeles November 10, 2017. REUTERS/Kevork Djansezian

The film landed six nominations including best male lead for Timothee Chalamet, supporting male lead for Armie Hammer and best feature, which is the top prize.

Jordan Peele’s sharp dissection of race relations in horror movie “Get Out” landed five nods and will also be competing for best feature, alongside coming-of-age tale “Lady Bird,” heartland drama “The Rider” and “The Florida Project,” about a young girl living on the outskirts of Disney World.

“Good Time,” a nocturnal crime thriller starring Robert Pattinson, also landed five nominations.

The Spirit Awards, to be held on March 3 and hosted by the Film Independent organization, celebrate artistic films made under $20 million at an informal lunch on the Santa Monica, California beach the day before Hollywood’s glitzy Oscars ceremony.

FILE PHOTO: Actor Armie Hammer arrives for the UK premiere of "Call Me By Your Name" during the British Film Festival in London, Britain October 9, 2017. REUTERS/Mary Turner

In the past four years, the best feature winner at the Spirit Awards has gone on to win best picture at the Oscars - “Moonlight,” “Spotlight,” “Birdman” and “12 Years A Slave.”

Chalamet will compete in the best male lead category with Pattinson for “Good Time,” James Franco for “The Disaster Artist,” Daniel Kaluuya for “Get Out” and Harris Dickinson for “Beach Rats.”

In the best female lead race, Salma Hayek was nominated for her role as a plain-speaking massage therapist in “Beatriz at Dinner,” and is up against Saoirse Ronan for “Lady Bird,” Margot Robbie for “I, Tonya,” Frances McDormand for “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” Shinobu Terajima for “Oh Lucy!” and Regina Williams for “Life and Nothing More.”

Notable omissions in the Spirit Awards nominations this year include Guillermo del Toro’s fantasy “Shape of Water” and Greta Gerwig in the best directing category, after she made her solo directing debut with the critically praised “Lady Bird.”

Gerwig, a staple of independent films, did land a best screenplay nod and the film landed four overall nominations.

Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy; Editing by Alistair Bell

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