<div style="text-align: justify; "><b style="font-size: 1rem;">Michelle Yeoh's "Everything Everywhere All At Once" and Cate Blanchett's "Tar" led the Spirit Awards nominations Tuesday, underlining their credentials as the indie films to watch this awards season.</b><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">The Film Independent Spirit Awards, which consider only low- and mid-budget movies, gave eight nods to Yeoh's hit sci-fi about surreal parallel universes, and seven to Blanchett's drama set in the cut-throat world of classical music.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Both were nominated for best feature, along with Sarah Polley's "Women Talking," which will receive the prestigious Robert Altman Award for a film's director, casting director and overall cast.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">All three movies are widely tipped to feature at next year's Oscars, which take place in March, just one week after the Spirit Awards winners are revealed in an annual ceremony by a Los Angeles beach.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">"Everything Everywhere All At Once" has grossed over $100 million worldwide, making it leading indie distributor A24's biggest hit.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">The absurdist film portrays a Chinese-American immigrant family undergoing a tax audit, who are quickly drawn into an inter-dimensional battle to save the multiverse from a powerful villain.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">"Tar" follows the rise and fall of a fictional, globally renowned conductor who will stop at nothing to succeed in her high-flying career.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">"Women Talking," a drama about women in an ultraconservative religious colony debating how to deal with systemic sexual abuse, features an ensemble cast including Claire Foy, Rooney Mara and Frances McDormand.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Rounding out the Spirit Awards' best feature category were Timothee Chalamet's cannibal love story "Bones and All," and African refugee drama "Our Father, the Devil."</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">But Chalamet was among several eligible A-listers who notably missed out on acting nominations, along with Jennifer Lawrence ("Causeway") and Brendan Fraser, whose acclaimed film "The Whale" earned zero nominations.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Double Oscar-winner Blanchett and Yeoh both received lead actor nominations, while Mark Rylance ("Bones and All") and Jamie Lee Curtis (Everything Everywhere All at Once") earned supporting nods.&nbsp;</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Films with budgets over $30 million are not considered for the Spirit Awards, which aim to celebrate independent filmmaking.</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Film Independent president Josh Welsh said Tuesday the nominations had looked for "uniqueness of vision, original provocative subject matter, economy of means, and diversity both on screen and off."</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;"><br></span></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;">For the first time, the awards have opted for gender-neutral acting awards.</span><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">The Spirit Awards take place in a giant tent by Santa Monica beach on March</div><div style="text-align: justify; ">4.</div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Oscars voting ends three days later, and the season-capping 95th Academy</div><div style="text-align: justify; ">Awards take place March 12. AFP</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>