The Independent Spirit Awards were created to honor lower-budget films that likely won’t receive the Academy’s attention, and while the awards are merely handed out in a small ceremony the day before the Oscars, an increasing number of critics are starting to take them seriously. Nominees for this year’s awards were announced Tuesday morning in Los Angeles, and Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s arthouse film Birdman leads the pack with an incredible six nominations.

Projected Oscar contenders like Unbroken and Interstellar are ineligible for the Spirit Awards, as the Film Independent imposes a $20 million maximum budget limit for its feature nominees. Thanks to this limit, Birdman will only have to compete with Selma, Love Is Strange, and Boyhood in the Best Feature category. Right behind Michael Keaton’s black comedy film about a former superhero movie star attempting to resurrect his career on Broadway are Nightcrawler, Boyhood and Selma, which are all tied with five nominations each. The Imitation Game and Wild were both noticeably snubbed from this year’s ceremony.

Last year’s Independent Spirit Awards proved to be a great barometer for where films may stand in the Oscars race, as 12 Years a Slave, Matthew McConaughey, Cate Blanchett, Jared Leto, and Lupita Nyong’o all won in their respective categories before taking home their Academy Awards the next day.

Below is the full list of nominees competing at this year’s ceremony, which will be held at a beach-front luncheon in Santa Monica on Feb. 21, the day before the 87th Academy Awards.

BEST FEATURE

• Boyhood
• Love Is Strange
• Selma
• Whiplash
• Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

BEST DIRECTOR

• Damien Chazelle, Whiplash
• Ava DuVernay, Selma
• Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
• David Zellner, Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter
• Richard Linklater, Boyhood

BEST SCREENPLAY

• Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, Big Eyes
• J.C. Chandor, A Most Violent Year
• Dan Gilroy, Nightcrawler
• Jim Jarmusch, Only Lovers Left Alive
• Ira Sachs and Mauricio Zacharias, Love Is Strange

BEST FIRST FEATURE

• A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
• Dear White People
• Obvious Child
• She’s Lost Control
• Nightcrawler

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY

• Desiree Akhavan, Appropriate Behavior
• Sara Colangelo, Little Accidents
• Justin Lader, The One I Love
• Anja Marquardt, She’s Lost Control
• Justin Simien, Dear White People

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD (Given to the best feature made for under $500,000.)

• Blue Ruin
• It Felt Like Love
• Land Ho!
• Man from Reno
• Test

BEST FEMALE LEAD

• Marion Cotillard, The Immigrant
• Rinko Kikuchi, Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter
• Julianne Moore, Still Alice
• Tilda Swinton, Only Lovers Left Alive
• Jenny Slate, Obvious Child

BEST MALE LEAD

• André Benjamin, Jimi: All Is By My Side
• Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler
• Michael Keaton, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
• John Lithgow, Love Is Strange
• David Oyelowo, Selma

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE

• Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
• Jessica Chastain, A Most Violent Year
• Carmen Ejogo, Selma
• Andrea Suarez Paz, Stand Clear of the Closing Doors
• Emma Stone, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

BEST SUPPORTING MALE

• Riz Ahmed, Nightcrawler
• Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
• Alfred Molina, Love is Strange
• Edward Norton, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
• J.K. Simmons, Whiplash

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

• Darius Khondji, The Immigrant
• Emmanuel Lubezki, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
• Sean Porter, It Felt Like Love
• Lyle Vincent, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
• Bradford Young, Selma

BEST EDITING

• Sandra Adair, Boyhood
• Tom Cross, Whiplash
• John Gilroy, Nightcrawler
• Ron Patane, A Most Violent Year
• Adam Wingard, The Guest

BEST DOCUMENTARY

• 20,000 Days on Earth
• Stray Dog
• The Salt of the Earth
• Virunga
• Citizenfour

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM

• Force Majeure
• Ida
• Leviathan
• Mommy
• Norte, the End of History
• Under the Skin

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD (Given to one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast)

• Inherent Vice Director: Paul Thomas Anderson Casting Director: Cassandra Kulukundis Ensemble Cast: Josh Brolin, Martin Donovan, Jena Malone, Joanna Newsom, Joaquin Phoenix, Eric Roberts, Maya Rudolph, Martin Short Serena Scott Thomas, Benicio Del Toro, Katherine Waterston, Michael Kenneth Williams, Owen Wilson, Reese Witherspoon

SPECIAL DISTINCTION AWARD

• Foxcatcher Director/Producer: Bennett Miller Producers: Anthony Bregman, Megan Ellison, Jon Kilik Writers: E. Max Frye, Dan Futterman Actors: Steve Carell, Mark Ruffalo, Channing Tatum