The nominations for the Independent Spirit Awards have been announced and LGBT movies have done pretty well. The ISAs are the premiere US awards for independent movies. Many see them as the Oscars for those who don’t have the means to launch a massive, multi-million dollar awards campaign (e.g. most LGBT film), but who have still made a great movie.

Ira Sach’s Keep The Light On – about the tumultuous 10-year relationship between two men, which spirals downwards due to drugs – leads the LGBT contingent with four nominations. They include Best Feature, Best Director, Best Screenpay and a Best Male Lead nomination for the wonderful Thure Lindhardt, who plays the film’s leading man, Erik.

Other LGBT interest came with Richard Linklater’s Bernie scoring two nominations. The film, about a closeted undertaker, is up for Best Feature and Best Male Lead (Jack Black). Indeed, Best Male Lead is a pretty gay category, as Wendell Pierce is also up for the award for playing a married man who starts a relationship with a teenage boy in Four (Bradley Cooper, John Hawkes and Matthew McConaughey are also nominated in the same category for playing straight roles, so it’s not totally gay).

Elsewhere, Gayby gained queer filmmaker Johnathan Liseki a Best First Screenplay nomination. The movie is about a straight woman and a gay man who decide to have a baby together.

In the Best Documentary category, How To Survive A Plague scored a nom. The movie looks at the early days of the AIDS crisis and the emergence of activist groups such ACT UP and TAG. Finally, The Perks Of Being A Wallflower, which features queer actor Ezra Miller playing a brash gay teen, scored a Best First Feature nomination.

The Independent Spirit Awards will be presented on 23rd February, 2013. You can find all the nominees here.