“Avatar” Nominated for Record Nine Independent Spirit Awards
Los Angeles, California – Today proved to be a great day for James Cameron and his latest low-budget creation “Avatar”, as it was nominated for a record nine Independent Spirit Awards, including “Best Film”.
Cameron’s film tells the story of a paraplegic war veteran who takes the spot of his late twin brother on a mission to Pandora, a planet inhabited by the ignorant and savage Na’vi and overflowing with natural resources that rightfully belong to the U.S..
Like most independent films, it is best enjoyed in 3-D and on an IMAX screen.
It is nominated for: Best Film, Best Director (Cameron), Best Lead Male (Sam Worthington), Best Lead Female (Zoe Saldana), Best Supporting Female (Sigourney Weaver), Best Screenplay (Cameron), Best Cinematography (Mauro Fiore), and the John Cassavetes Award.
Cameron, who is arguably the most successful low-budget, independent movie director of all-time, told Larely Beagle reporters that, “It feels great to be recognized. I feel like my whole career I’ve been making high quality indie flicks that have been virtually dismissed by the Hollywood studios. As a result, I place much more value on the Independent Spirit Awards than many others that work in this industry. These are my Oscars.”
Cameron also said that winning the prestigious “John Cassavetes Award”, which is presented to the best film made for under $500,000, would mean more to him than any of the other categories. “I know you typically aren’t supposed to say that you feel like you deserve an award, but in this case, I think it’s acceptable. I’ve been making films on shoe-string budgets my whole career, and I feel like the Cassavetes award would not only be high praise for ‘Avatar’, which I’ve labored on for years, but it would also validate my work on other independent films like ‘T2’, ‘True Lies’, and ‘Titanic’.”
While the nine nominations are a record, “Avatar” may end up bringing home substantially fewer wins, as it is squaring off against some pretty stiff competition. Films like “Precious”, “Crazy Heart”, and “(500) Days of Summer” are among a handful of other films that are predicted to do well at the awards, which are being held in Santa Monica, CA on March 5.
