'Moonlight' and 'American Honey' lead the nominations for the 2017 Independent Spirit Awards with six nods each.

Naomie Harris

Naomie Harris

The Barry Jenkins movie, which features 'Spectre' star Naomie Harris and singer-and-actress Janelle Monáe, is up for Best Feature, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Cinematography and the prestigious Robert Altman Award for Best Ensemble.

'American Honey' has been listed in the categories for Best Feature, Best Director for Andrea Arnold, Best Female Lead for Sasha Lane, Best Supporting Male for Shia LaBeouf, Best Supporting Female for Riley Keogh and Best Cinematography.

Sasha will go head-to-head with Natalie Portman, Annette Bening, Isabelle Huppert and Ruth Negga for Best Female Lead.

While Casey Affleck, David Harewood, Viggo Mortensen, Jesse Plemons and Tim Roth will battle it out to be crowned Best Male Lead.

'Manchester by the Sea' follows shortly behind with five nominations for Best Feature, Best Screenplay, Best Male Lead for Casey Affleck, Best Supporting Male for Lucas Hedges and Best Editing.

Film Independent President Josh Welsh commented: "The Spirit Awards Filmmaker Grants enable us to not only recognise great work but also to provide much needed direct financial support to filmmakers.

"We're so appreciative of our grant funders, Kiehl's Since 1851 and Piaget. Through their funding of the Producers Award, Piaget has been a steadfast supporter of film artists for the last decade."

This year the nominees were chosen by the Spirit Awards Nominating Committees, who chose from 382 films.

The awards show will be aired live on February 25, 2017 at 5.00pm on IFC from Santa Monica beach.

The complete list of nominees:

Best Feature

'American Honey'

'Chronic'

'Jackie'

'Manchester by the Sea'

'Moonlight'

'Best Director'

Andrea Arnold, 'American Honey'

Barry Jenkins, 'Moonlight'

Pablo Larrain, 'Jackie'

Kelly Reichardt, 'Certain Women'

Jeff Nichols, 'Loving'

Best Screenplay

'Moonlight'

'Manchester by the Sea'

'20th Century Women'

'Little Men'

'Hell or High Water'

Best First Feature

'The Childhood of a Leader'

'The Fits'

'Other People'

'Swiss Army Man'

'The Witch'

Best First Screenplay

'The Witch'

'Other People'

'Barry'

'Jean of the Joneses'

'Christine'

Best Male Lead

Casey Affleck 'Manchester by the Sea'

David Harewood, 'Free in Deed'

Viggo Mortensen, 'Captain Fantastic'

Jesse Plemons, 'Other People'

Tim Roth, 'Chronic'

Best Female Lead

Annette Bening, '20th Century Women'

Isabelle Huppert, 'Elle'

Sasha Lane, 'American Honey'

Ruth Negga, 'Loving'

Natalie Portman, 'Jackie'

Best Supporting Male

Ralph Fiennes, 'A Bigger Splash'

Ben Foster, 'Hell or High Water'

Lucas Hedges, 'Manchester by the Sea'

Shia LaBeouf, 'American Honey'

Craig Robinson, 'Morris From America'

Best Supporting Female

Edwina Findley, 'Free in Deed'

Paulina Garcia, 'Little Men'

Lily Gladstone, 'Certain Women'

Riley Keough, 'American Honey'

Molly Shannon, 'Other People'

Best Documentary

'13th'

'Cameraperson'

'I Am Not Your Negro'

'O.J.: Made in America'

'Sonita'

'Under the Sun'

Best International Film

'Aquarius'

'Chevalier'

'My Golden Days'

'Toni Erdmann'

'Under the Shadow'

Best Cinematography

'Free in Deed'

'Childhood'

'Eyes of My Mother'

'Moonlight'

'American Honey'

Best Editing

'Swiss Army Man'

'Manchester by the Sea'

'Moonlight'

'Hell or High Water'

'Jackie'

John Cassavetes Award (Best Feature Under $500,000)

'Free in Deed'

'Hunter Gatherer'

'Lovesong'

'Nakom'

'Spa Night'

Robert Altman Award (Best Ensemble)

'Moonlight'

Piaget Producers Award

Lisa Kjerulff

Jordana Mollick

Melody C. Roscher

Craig Shilowich

Someone to Watch Award

Andrew Ahn, 'Spa Night'

Claire Carre, 'Embers'

Anna Rose Holmer, 'The Fits'

Ingrid Jungermann, 'Women Who Kill'

Truer Than Fiction Award

Kristi Jacobson, 'Solitary'

Sara Jordenö, 'Kiki'

Nanfu Wang, 'Hooligan Sparrow'

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