Quirky indie comedy Little Miss Sunshine and Half Nelson - a drama about a drug-addicted teacher - have both snagged five nominations for the Independent Spirit Awards.
Both films will vie for the top gong of best feature and best director alongside a host of other independent movies including current UK release Pan's Labyrinth and Robert Altman's final Film A Prairie Home Companion.
The awards - which will be held on the day before the Oscars on February 24 - also honour low-budget films that cost less than $500,000 (£256,000), through the John Cassavetes award.
A Special Distinction Award will also be given to David Lynch and Laura Dern.
The nomation committee said the award is "in recognition of their unique and stunning collaborative work - in the mesmerizing Inland Empire as well as the influential independent classics Blue Velvet and Wild At Heart.
"Lynch's masterful direction and Dern's indelible performances in these visionary films represent to the committee the essence of artistic achievement and independent spirit."
Chair of the American Narrative Feature Nominating Committee Howard Rodman, added: "American independent cinema has never been as strange or as wonderful as in 2006.
"There were wildly impressive first features; stunning films made on ultra-low budgets; and an amazing array of performances across the board. This made the choosing quite difficult, even as it made the viewing pleasurable indeed."
The full list of nominees is as follows:
Special Distinction Award
David Lynch and Laura Dern.
Best Feature
American Gun
The Dead Girl
Half Nelson
Winner: Little Miss Sunshine
Pan's Labyrinth
Best Director
Robert Altman -
A Prairie Home Companion
Winner: Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris - Little Miss Sunshine
Ryan Fleck -
Half Nelson
Karen Moncrieff - The Dead Girl
Steven Soderbergh - Bubble
Best First Feature
Day Night Day Night - Director: Julia Loktev
Man Push Cart - Ramin Bahrani
The Motel - Director: Michael Kang
Winner:Sweet Land - Director: Ali Selim
Wristcutters: A Love Story -
Director: Goran Dukic
John Cassavetes Award
Chalk - Director: Mike Akel
Four Eyed Monsters - Writer/Director/Producers: Arin Crumley & Susan Buice
Old Joy - Director: Kelly Reichardt
Winner: Echo Park, LA (Quinceanera)
Writer/Directors: Richard Glatzer & Wash Westmoreland
Twelve and Holding - Director: Michael Cuesta
Best Screenplay
Neil Burger - The Illusionist
Nicole Holofcener - Friends with Money
Ron Nyswaner - The Painted Veil
Winner: Jason Reitman - Thank You For Smoking
Jeff Stanzler - Sorry, Haters
Best First Screenplay
Winner: Michael Arndt - Little Miss Sunshine
Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck - Half Nelson
Goran Dukic - Wristcutters: A Love Story
Dito Montiel - A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints
Gabrielle Zevin - Conversations with Other Women
Best Female Lead
Winner: Shareeka Epps - Half Nelson
Catherine O'Hara - For Your Consideration
Elizabeth Reaser - Sweet Land
Michelle Williams - Land of Plenty
Robin Wright Penn - Sorry, Haters
Best Male Lead
Aaron Eckhart - Thank You For Smoking
Winner: Ryan Gosling - Half Nelson
Edward Norton - The Painted Veil
Ahmad Razvi - Man Push Cart
Forest Whitaker - American Gun
Best Supporting Female
Melonie Diaz - A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints
Marcia Gay Harden - American Gun
Mary Beth Hurt - The Dead Girl
Winner: Frances McDormand - Friends with Money
Amber Tamblyn - Stephanie Daley
Best Supporting Male
Winner: Alan Arkin - Little Miss Sunshine
Raymond J. Barry - Steel City
Daniel Craig - Infamous
Paul Dano - Little Miss Sunshine
Channing Tatum - A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints
Best Cinematography
Arin Crumley - Four Eyed Monsters
Anthony Dod Mantle - Brothers of the Head
Winner: Guillermo Navarro - Pan’s Labyrinth
Aaron Platt - Wild Tigers I Have Known
Michael Simmonds - Man Push Cart
Best Documentary
A Lion in the House - Directors: Steven Bognar & Julia Reichert
My Country, My Country - Director: Laura Poitras
Winner: The Road to Guantanamo - Directors: Michael Winterbottom & Mat Whitecross
The Trials of Darryl Hunt - Directors: Annie Sundberg & Ricki Stern
You’re Gonna Miss Me - Director: Keven McAlester
Best Foreign Film
12:08 East of Bucharest (Romania) - Director: Corneliu Porumboiu
The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros (Philippines)
- Director: Auraeus Solito
Chronicle of an Escape (Argentina) -
Director: Israel Adrián Caetano
Days of Glory (France/Morocco/Algeria/Belgium)-Director: Rachid Bouchareb
Winner: The Lives Of Others (Germany)- Director: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
Special Awards- IFC/Acura Someone to Watch Award
So Yong Kim - director of In Between Days
Julia Loktev - director of Day Night Day Night
Richard Wong - director of Colma: The Musical
Special Awards - Axium Truer Than Fiction Award
Adele Horn - The Tailenders
Eric Daniel Metzgar - The Chances of the World Changing
AJ Schnack - Kurt Cobain About A Son
Special Awards - Axium Producers Award
Julie Lynn - producer of Nine Lives and 10 Items or Less
Alex Orlovsky and Jamie Patricof - producers of Half Nelson and Point & Shoot
Howard Gertler and Tim Perell - producers of Shortbus and Pizza
