The Film Independent Spirit Awards will take place Feb. 23, the final Saturday in February, Film Independent announced on Tuesday.
Next year’s ceremony will be the 28th in the history of the event, which honors the best independent American-made films of the year. Film Independent, the Los Angeles-based nonprofit, on Tuesday began accepting entries, and will accept submissions until Oct. 16 before announcing the nominees Nov. 27.
To be eligible, films must be at least 70 minutes long, cost less than $20 million to make, have been shown at least once a day for a week in a commercial theater in 2012 and have been screened at one of six major film festivals. International films and documenatries are only eligible for those specific categories.
“The Artist” dominated last year’s awards, winning awards for best feature, best directors, lead actor and cinematography. That mirrored the film's dominance at the Academy Awards, which traditionally take place the day after the Spirit Awards.
Early contenders this year include Benh Zeitlin’s “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” Wes Anderson’s “Moonrise Kingdom,” Paul Thomas Anderson’s “The Master and David O. Russell’s “Silver Linings Playbook.”
