Sony Pictures Classics Took an Impressive 18 Nominations for the 2009 Film Independent’s Spirit Awards

NEW YORK, Dec. 2 /PRNewswire/ — Sony Pictures Classics took an impressive
18 Spirit nominations (in a addition to “Synecdoche, New York” winning a
special Robert Altman Award) which were announced this morning in Los Angeles
for their films “Rachel Getting Married,” “Sugar,” “The Class,” “The
Wackness,” “Synecdoche, New York,” and “Frozen River.” “Rachel Getting
Married” receiving some of the best critical praise of the Fall film releases
took 6 nominations including Best Feature, Best Director for Jonathan Demme,
Best First Screenplay for Jenny Lumet and Best Female Lead for Anne Hathaway and “Frozen River,” Courtney Hunt’s riveting drama about two desperate
working-class women received 6 nominations for Best Feature, Best First
Screenplay and Best Director for Courtney Hunt, Best Female Lead for Melissa
Leo, Best Supporting Female for Misty Upham and Best Supporting Male for

“Frozen River,” “Rachel Getting Married,” “Synecdoche, New York” are
presently on screens in North America. “The Class” is scheduled to open on
Dec. 19, 2008 for a one-week qualifying run and will be released for regular
theatrical engagements on January 30, 2009. “Sugar” will be released April 3,
2009.

The following is a complete list of all the Sony Pictures Classics
nominations for their films:

    Frozen River:

    Best Director - Courtney Hunt
    Best Feature - Chip Hourihan, Heather Rae
    Best Female Lead - Melissa Leo
    Best First Screenplay - Courtney Hunt
    Best Supporting Female - Misty Upham
    Best Supporting Male - Charlie McDermott
    Piaget Producers Award - Heather Rae

    Rachel Getting Married:

    Best Director - Jonathan Demme
    Best Feature - Neda Armian, Jonathan Demme, Marc Platt
    Best Female Lead - Anne Hathaway
    Best First Screenplay - Jenny Lumet
    Best Supporting Female - Rosemarie DeWitt
    Best Supporting Female - Debra Winger

    Sugar:

    Best Screenplay - Anne Boden & Ryan Fleck

    Synecdoche, New York:

    Best First Feature - Anthony Bregman, Spike Jonze, Charlie Kaufman, Sidney
     Kimmel
    Best Screenplay - Charlie Kaufman
    Robert Altman Award -
    Director - Charlie Kaufman
    Casting Director - Jeanne McCarthy
    Ensemble Cast - Hope Davis, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jennifer Jason Leigh,
     Sony Pictures Classics Took an Impressive 18 Nominations for the 2009
     Film Independent's Spirit Awards Katherine Keener, Samantha Morton, Tom
     Noonan, Emily Watson, Dianne Wiest, Michelle Williams

    The Class:

    Best Foreign Film - Laurent Cantet

    The Wackness:

    Best First Screenplay - Jonathan Levine

SOURCE Sony Pictures Classics