'Beast,' 'Bernie' score Gotham Award nods

NEW YORK, Oct. 18 (UPI) -- "Beasts of the Southern Wild," "Bernie," "Middle of Nowhere" and "Moonrise Kingdom" were each nominated for two Gotham Independent Film Awards in New York.

The shortlist was announced Thursday by the Independent Filmmaker Project, an organization of independent filmmakers.

The nominees for Best Feature are "Bernie," "The Loneliest Planet," "The Master," "Middle of Nowhere" and "Moonrise Kingdom."

Competing in the Best Ensemble Performance category are the casts of "Bernie," "Moonrise Kingdom," "Safety Not Guaranteed," "Silver Linings Playbook" and "Your Sister's Sister."

Up for Best Documentary are "Detropia," "How to Survive a Plague," "Marina Abramovic: The Artist is Present," "Room 237" and "The Waiting Room."

Nominated for Breakthrough Director are Zal Batmanglij for "Sound of My Voice," Brian M. Cassidy and Melanie Shatzky for "Francine,"

Jason Cortlund and Julia Halperin for "Now, Forager," Antonio Mendez Esparza for "Aqui y Alla (Here and There)" and Benh Zeitlin for "Beasts of the Southern Wild."

Shortlisted for Breakthrough Actor are Mike Birbiglia for "Sleepwalk with Me," Emayatzy Corinealdi for "Middle of Nowhere," Thure Lindhardt for "Keep the Lights On," Melanie Lynskey for "Hello, I Must Be Going" and Quvenzhane Wallis for "Beasts of the Southern Wild."

The Gotham Awards are to be presented Nov. 26 at Manhattan's Cipriani Wall Street.

In addition to the competitive awards, actors Marion Cotillard and Matt Damon, director David O. Russell, and Participant Media founder Jeff Skoll will each be presented with a career tribute.

"From master film artists to richly talented newcomers, this year's nominees comprise a diverse group of filmmakers and actors that defines the spectrum of independent film today," Joana Vicente, IFP's executive director, said in a statement Thursday. "In addition to celebrating the work and the community, we also hope that the Gotham Award attention will encourage more audiences to explore the range of vibrant, entertaining, challenging, and innovative films represented here."