[caption id="attachment_35068" align="alignright" width="607" caption="'The Artist' cleans up"][/caption]

The nominees for the 2012 Independent Spirit Awards have been announced, take a look below.

Best Screenplay: Joseph Cedar (FootNote), Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist), Tom McCarthy (Win Win), Mike Mills (Beginners), and Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon & Jim Rash (The Descendants)

Best First Screenplay: Mike Cahill & Brit Marling (Another Earth), J.C. Chandor (Margin Call), Patrick DeWitt (Terri), Phil Johnston (Cedar Rapids), Will Reiser (50/50)

Best Cinematography: Joel Hodge (Bellflower), Benjamin Kuh-Sulk (The Off Hours), Darius Kond-Jee (Midnight in Paris), Gui-omme Shiffman (The Artist), Jeffrey Waldron (The Dynamiter)

Best International Film: A Separation, Melancholia, Shame, The Kid With a Bike, Tyrannosaur

Best Documentary: An African Selection, Bill Cunningham's New York, The Interrupters, The Redemption of General Butt Naked, We Were Here

John Cassavetes Award: Bellflower, Circumstance, Hello Lonesome, Pariah, The Dynamiter

Best Supporting Female: Jessica Chastain (Take Shelter), Angelica Huston (50/50), Janet McTeer (Albert Nobbs), Harmony Santana (Gun Hill Road), Shailene Woodley (The Descendants)

Best Supporting Male: Albert Brooks (Drive), John Hawkes (Martha Marcy May Marlene), Christopher Plummer (Beginners), John C.Reilly (Cedar Rapids), Corey Stoll (Midnight in Paris)

Best Female Lead: Lauren Ambrose (Think of Me), Rachael Harris (Natural Selection), Adepero Oduye (Pariah), Elizabeth Olsen (Martha Marcy May Marlene), Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn)

Best Male Lead: Demian Bichir (A Better Life), Jean Dujardin (The Artist), Ryan Gosling (Drive), Woody Harrelson (Rampart), Michael Shannon (Take Shelter)

Best First Feature: Another Earth, In The Family, Margin Call, Martha Marcy May Marlene, Natural Selection