AIFA Announce 2017 Nominations in 13 Categories

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

2017 AMERICAN INDEPENDENT FILM AWARDS NOMINATIONS ANNOUNCED

13 CATEGORIES FOR INAUGURAL EDITION

NEW YORK CITY, NY, FEBRUARY 17, 2017 – The American Independent Film Awards (AIFAs) announced today the nominees for their first inaugural edition, comprised of thirteen categories for American indie feature films. For their first edition, both the nominations and the winners will be unveiled online only. AIFA will be working towards a LIVE event for their sophomore year.

“First and foremost, we would like to thank all film producers and distribution companies who helped us identify qualifying films and outline the categories. We’d also like to thank the international and American based film festival programmers, and North American film critics for their general enthusiasm and support we received for this new initiative,” said Eric Lavallee, Executive Director of the AIFAs.

In addition to the five selected NoBudge nominations, thirty-eight films qualified for nominations this year. Thirteen separate films were in contention for our The Michel Cimino Best Film Award which honors American independent films with a film production budget between 1 and 3 Million.

The AIFA voting body consists of international film festival programmers, U.S. based film festival programmers and North American film critics. A separate committee selected and will vote on the NoBudge Film Award. Ballots were compiled, and by way of a numerical point system, the top vote-getters essentially became our set of nominated films. Winners in all categories will be revealed on February 19th at 7:00 PM EST.

BEST FILM (10 Noms)
Always Shine – Director: Sophia Takal
Producers: Lawrence Michael Levine, Sophia Takal, Pierce Varous

Henry Gamble’s Birthday Party – Director: Stephen Cone
Producers: Stephen Cone, Laura Klein, Shane Simmons

Kate Plays Christine – Director: Robert Greene
Producers: Susan Bedusa, Douglas Tirola

Krisha – Director: Trey Edward Shults
Producers: Justin R. Chan, Chase Joliet, Trey Edward Shults, Wilson Smith

Little Sister – Director: Zach Clark
Producers: Zach Clark, Daryl Pittman, Melodie Sisk

The Eyes of My Mother – Director: Nicolas Pesce
Producers: Max Born, Jacob Wasserman, Schuyler Weiss

The Fits – Director: Anna Rose Holmer
Producers: Anna Rose Holmer, Lisa Kjerulff

The Invitation – Director: Karyn Kusama
Producers: Martha Griffin, Phil Hay, Matt Manfredi, Nick Spicer

The Other Side – Director: Roberto Minervini
Producers: Paolo Benzi, Muriel Meynard, Dario Zonta

White Girl – Director: Elizabeth Wood
Producers: Gabriel Nussbaum

BEST DIRECTOR (5 Noms)
Robert Greene, Kate Plays Christine
Trey Edward Shults, Krisha
Zach Clark, Little Sister
Anna Rose Holmer, The Fits
Karyn Kusama, The Invitation

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY (5 Noms) *
Stephen Cone, Henry Gamble’s Birthday Party
Trey Edward Shults, Krisha
Zach Clark, Little Sister
Saela Davis, Anna Rose Holmer, Lisa Kjerulff, The Fits
Phil Hay, Matt Manfredi, The Invitation
Elizabeth Wood, White Girl

BEST IMPROVISATIONAL SCREENPLAY (3 Noms)
Blue Jay
collective: unconscious
Kate Plays Christine

BEST LEAD PERFORMANCE (7 Noms)
Mackenzie Davis, Always Shine
Kate Lyn Sheil, Kate Plays Christine
Krisha Fairchild, Krisha
Addison Timlin, Little Sister
Jesse Plemons, Other People
Royalty Hightower, The Fits
Morgan Saylor, White Girl

BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE (7 Noms)
Caitlin FitzGerald, Always Shine
Edwina Findley, Free in Deed
Keith Poulson, Little Sister
Ally Sheedy, Little Sister
Molly Shannon, Other People
Tammy Blanchard, The Invitation
John Carroll Lynch, The Invitation

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHER (3 Noms)
Drew Daniels, Krisha
Zach Kuperstein, The Eyes of My Mother
Paul Yee, The Fits

BEST EDITOR (3 Noms)
Robert Greene, Kate Plays Christine
Trey Edward Shults, Krisha
Saela Davis, The Fits

BEST COSTUME DESIGN (3 Noms)
Hannah Kittell, Kate Plays Christine
Elizabeth Crum, Men Go To Battle
Christina Blackaller, The Greasy Strangler

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN (3 Noms) **
Soojin Chang, Charlotte Royer, Paul Tate dePoo III, Mar Urrestarazu, Timothy Whidbee, collective: unconscious
John Fergason, Creative Control
Chelsea Oliver Embers
Sam Hensen, The Eyes of My Mother
Charlotte Royer, The Fits
Jason Kisvarday, The Greasy Strangler

BEST HAIR & MAKE-UP (3 Noms)
Janine Maloney/Cat Martin, The Eyes of My Mother
Danielle Mueller, The Fits
Michelle Sfarzo, The Greasy Strangler

BEST SCORE (3 Noms)
Daniel Garcia, Jesse Gelaznik, Kazu Makino, Alex Weston, H.
Brian McOmber, Krisha
Saunder Jurriaans and Danny Bensi, The Fits

THE MICHAEL CIMINO BEST FILM AWARD (Films with a budget between 1M to 3M)
Certain Women – Producers: Neil Kopp, Vincent Savino, Anish Savjani / Director: Kelly Reichardt
The Love Witch – Producer/Director: Anna Biller

Notes:
* Best Original Screenplay: Tie means six nominations.

** Best Production Design: Tie means six nominations

*** The Michael Cimino Best Film Award: Identity of the Best Film and runner-up will be unveiled.

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The 1st American Independent Film Awards (online edition) will take place on Sunday, February 19th, 2017.

About the American Independent Film Awards:

The American Independent Film Awards LLC is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting and supporting independent films, filmmakers and film technicians. Our voting body consists of U.S. based and international film festival programmers and North American based film critics.

For more information, please visit: www.AmericanIndependentFilmAwards.com and follow us on:

Twitter: @aifasdotcom

Facebook: www.facebook.com/AmericanIndependentFilmAwards

Instagram: @americanindependentfilmawards

LinkedIn Group: www.linkedin.com/company/american-independent-film-awards-llc.

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Press Contact: Eric Lavallee
eric@americanindependentfilmawards.com