Every year, the Film Independent Spirit Awards, which traditionally take place the night before the Oscars, bestow their honors upon the best of independent cinema. In the past, this meant that studio-produced films with larger budgets were excluded, but the rules were changed some time ago in order to recognize studio projects that displayed striking vision and originality. This year’s nominees include a number of buzzed-about features, including Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave, the Coen brothers’ Inside Llewyn Davis, and one of 2013’s early triumphs, Fruitvale Station. See below for the full list:
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