In our world we hold absolute reverence for Film Independent’s Spirit Awards, maybe even more than the Oscars, and definitely more than the Golden Globes. This year, keeping away from crossover fare, they’ve omitted the big runners Slumdog Millionaire and Milk in the big categories. For those that bet big money on these two films, wanting to see them travel the same path that past winners Little Miss Sunshine and Juno did all the way to the Oscars, the nominee list is a bit of a shocker.

The big players this year are Courtney Hunt’s Frozen River with seven nods, and Lance Hammer’s Ballast and Jonathan Demme’s Rachel Getting Married with six nods each.

And like every year, the award show will be held in the ‘big tent on the beach’ in Santa Monica, a day before the Oscars on February 21st.

And the nominees are:

Best Feature
Ballast
Frozen River
Rachel Getting Married
Wendy and Lucy
The Wrestler

Best Director
Ramin Bahrani, Chop Shop
Jonathan Demme, Rachel Getting Married
Lance Hammer, Ballast
Courtney Hunt, Frozen River
Tom McCarthy, The Visitor

Best First Feature
Afterschool
Medicine for Melancholy
Sangre De Mi Sangre
Sleep Dealer
Synecdoche, New York

John Cassavetes Award
Prince of Broadway
Take Out
The Signal
Turn the River
In Search of a Midnight Kiss

Best Screenplay
Woody Allen, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck, Sugar
Charlie Kaufman, Synecdoche, New York
Howard A. Rodman, Savage Grace
Christopher Zalla, Sangre De Mi Sangre

Best First Screenplay
Dustin Lance Black, Milk
Lance Hammer, Ballast
Courtney Hunt, Frozen River
Jonathan Levine, The Wackness
Jenny Lumet, Rachel Getting Married

Best Female Lead
Summer Bishil, Towelhead
Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
Melissa Leo, Frozen River
Tarra Riggs, Ballast
Michelle Williams, Wendy and Lucy

Best Male Lead
Javier Bardem, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Richard Jenkins, The Visitor
Sean Penn, Milk
Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker
Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler

Best Supporting Female
Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Rosemarie DeWitt, Rachel Getting Married
Rosie Perez, The Take
Misty Upham, Frozen River
Debra Winger, Rachel Getting Married

Best Supporting Male
James Franco, Milk
Anthony Mackie, The Hurt Locker
Charlie McDermott, Frozen River
Jim Myron Ross, Ballast
Haaz Sleiman, The Visitor

Best Foreign Film
The Class (France)
Gomorra (Italy)
Hunger (U.K./Ireland)
Secret of the Grain (France)
Silent Light (Mexico/France/Netherlands/Germany)

Best Documentary
The Betrayal
Encounters at the End of the World
Man on Wire
The Order of Myths
Up the Yangtze

Best Cinematography
Maryse Alberti, The Wrestler
Lol Crawley, Ballast
James Laxton, Medicine for Melancholy
Harris Savides, Milk
Michael Simmonds, Chop Shop

Robert Altman Award
Synecdoche, New York

Piaget Producers Award
Heather Rae
Frozen River, Ibid
Jason Orans
Goodbye Solo, Year of the Fish
Lars Knudsen and Jay Van Hoy
Treeless Mountain, I’ll Come Running

Acura Someone to Watch Award
Lynn Shelton, My Effortless Brilliance
Nina Paley, Sita Sings the Blues
Barry Jenkins, Medicine for Melancholy

Lacoste Truer Than Fiction Award
Darius Marder, Loot
Sacha Gervasi, Anvil! The Story of Anvil
Margaret Brown, The Order of Myths