Georgia Film Critics announce nominees for 2013 awards

"12 Years a Slave" leads in nominations, but indie films "Upstream Color," "Short Term 12" and "The Spectacular Now" make a splash.

Though they may be one of the later regional critics groups to release their year-end lists, the Georgia Film Critics Association always manages to give a tip-of-the-hat to the unexpected. Now wrapping up it's third awards season, the GFCA's ten members have put together a list of films that mixes the expected Oscar heavy-hitters with some of the year's most celebrated independent releases.

"12 Years a Slave" leads the way with ten nominations, followed by "American Hustle" and "Inside Llewyn Davis" each with seven nods. The tide then turns a little bit, with "Upstream Color" joining "Gravity" and "The Wolf of Wall Street" with six nominations each. Festival darling "Short Term 12" follows with five mentions. "Her," "Mud" and "The Spectacular Now" round out the remaining Best Picture nominees.

A few highlights include Amy Seimetz ("Upstream Color") in both Best Actress and Breakthrough categories, John Goodman ("Inside Llewyn Davis") and Sally Hawkins ("Blue Jasmine") in supporting shortlists and singular screenplay nominations for "Frances Ha" and "Prince Avalanche." Emmanuel Lubezki wound up with two nominations in Best Cinematography ("Gravity," "To the Wonder"), while Hans Zimmer pulled the same feat in Best Score ("Man of Steel," "12 Years a Slave"). Going back to "Upstream Color," Shane Carruth might be the real winner here, seeing as he served as the film's director, producer, writer, lead actor, editor and composer—personally earning credit for most of the film's nominations.

Plenty of these films featured on the 2013 Georgia film festival circuit. "Mud" and "The Spectacular Now" played at the Atlanta Film Festival, while "Nebraska," "The Past," "Philomena," "The Sacrament" and "The Spectacular Now" all screened at the Savannah Film Festival. "Lore" played at the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival and "Muscle Shoals" will screen in February at the 2014 Macon Film Festival.

The Breakthrough Award shortlist features actresses Sophie Kennedy Clark ("Philomena"), Brie Larson ("Don Jon," "Short Term 12," "The Spectacular Now"), Lupita Nyong'o ("12 Years a Slave"); actors Tye Sheridan ("Joe," "Mud") and Miles Teller ("The Spectacular Now," "21 & Over"); and actress-director-producer-writer-editor Amy Seimetz ("Lucky Them," "9 Full Moons," "Pit Stop," "The Sacrament," "Sun Don't Shine," "Upstream Color").

Winners will be announced Friday, January 10th. Check out the full list of nominees after the jump.

Best Picture

• "American Hustle"
• "Gravity"
• "Her"
• "Inside Llewyn Davis"
• "Mud"
• "Short Term 12"
• "The Spectacular Now"
• "12 Years a Slave"
• "Upstream Color"
• "The Wolf of Wall Street"

Best Director

• "Gravity" - Alfonso Cuarón
• "Inside Llewyn Davis" - Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
• "12 Years a Slave" - Steve McQueen
• "Upstream Color" - Shane Carruth
• "The Wolf of Wall Street" - Martin Scorsese

Best Actor

• Leonardo DiCaprio ("The Wolf of Wall Street")
• Chiwetel Ejiofor ("12 Years a Slave")
• Oscar Isaac ("Inside Llewyn Davis")
• Matthew McConaughey ("Dallas Buyers Club")
• Joaquin Phoenix ("Her")

Best Actress

• Amy Adams ("American Hustle")
• Cate Blanchett ("Blue Jasmine")
• Sandra Bullock ("Gravity")
• Judi Dench ("Philomena")
• Brie Larson ("Short Term 12")
• Amy Seimetz ("Upstream Color")

Best Supporting Actor

• Barkhad Abdi ("Captain Phillips")
• Bradley Cooper ("American Hustle")
• Michael Fassbender ("12 Years a Slave")
• John Goodman ("Inside Llewyn Davis")
• Jonah Hill ("The Wolf of Wall Street")
• Jared Leto ("Dallas Buyers Club")

Best Supporting Actress

• Sally Hawkins ("Blue Jasmine")
• Jennifer Lawrence ("American Hustle")
• Lupita Nyong'o ("12 Years a Slave")
• Margot Robbie ("The Wolf of Wall Street")
• June Squibb ("Nebraska")

Best Original Screenplay

• "American Hustle" - David O. Russell & Eric Singer
• "Frances Ha" - Noah Baumbach & Greta Gerwig
• "Her" - Spike Jonze
• "Mud" - Jeff Nichols
• "Upstream Color" - Shane Carruth

Best Adapted Screenplay

• "Philomena" - Steve Coogan & Jeff Pope
• "Prince Avalanche" - David Gordon Green
• "Short Term 12" - Destin Cretton
• "The Spectacular Now" - Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber
• "12 Years a Slave" - John Ridley

Best Cinematography

• "Gravity" - Emmanuel Lubezki
• "Inside Llewyn Davis" - Bruno Delbonnel
• "To the Wonder" - Emmanuel Lubezki
• "12 Years a Slave" - Sean Bobbit
• "Upstream Color" - Shane Carruth

Best Production Design

• "American Hustle" - Judy Becker
• "Gravity" - Andy Nicholson
• "Inside Llewyn Davis" - Jess Gonchor
• "Man of Steel" - Alex McDowell
• "12 Years a Slave" - Adam Stockhausen

Best Original Score

• "Gravity" - Steven Price
• "Her" - Arcade Fire
• "Man of Steel" - Hans Zimmer
• "12 Years a Slave" - Hans Zimmer
• "Upstream Color" - Shane Carruth

Best Original Song

• "Almost Home" - Mariah Carey, Mikkel Eriksen, Justin Gray, Tor Erik Hermansen, Simone Porter, Lindsey Ray ("Oz the Great and Powerful")
• "Let it Go" - Kristen Anderson-Lopez & Robert Lopez ("Frozen")
• "Please Mr. Kennedy" - T Bone Burnett, Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, George Cromarty, Ed Rush, Justin Timberlake ("Inside Llewyn Davis")
• "So You Know What It's Like" - Keith Stanfield ("Short Term 12")
• "Stay Alive" - Ryan Adams & Theodore Shapiro ("The Secret Life of Walter Mitty")
• "Young and Beautiful" - Lana Del Rey, Rick Nowels ("The Great Gatsby")

Best Ensemble

• "American Hustle"
• "Short Term 12"
• "The Spectacular Now"
• "12 Years a Slave"
• "The Wolf of Wall Street"

Best Foreign Film

• "Expedition to the End of the World"
• "The Great Beauty"
• "Lore"
• "No"
• "The Past"

Breakthrough Award

• Sophie Kennedy Clark ("Philomena")
• Brie Larson ("Don Jon," "Short Term 12," "The Spectacular Now")
• Lupita Nyong'o ("12 Years of Slave")
• Amy Seimetz ("Lucky Them," "9 Full Moons," "Pit Stop," "The Sacrament," "Sun Don't Shine," "Upstream Color")
• Tye Sheridan ("Joe," "Mud")
• Miles Teller ("The Spectacular Now," "21 & Over")

Best Animated Film

• "The Croods"
• "Despicable Me 2"
• "Epic"
• "Frozen"
• "The Wind Rises"

Best Documentary

• "Cutie and the Boxer"
• "Muscle Shoals"
• "Stories We Tell"
• "20 Feet from Stardom"
• "¡Vivan las Antipodas!" 

Oglethorpe Award for Excellence in Georgia Cinema

• To Be Announced.