Joaquin Phoenix is among the nominees for the upcoming Independent Spirit Awards.

Joaquin Phoenix

Joaquin Phoenix

The 44-year-old actor has been shortlisted for the Best Male Lead gong at the bash on February 23 for his starring role in the Lynne Ramsay-directed drama 'You Were Never Really Here', which also starred Ekaterina Samsonov.

The movie is nominated for the Best Feature award while Ramsay has been shortlisted for the Best Director accolade at the bash, which celebrates the work of independent filmmakers.

Joaquin will face competition from the likes of John Cho, Daveed Diggs, Ethan Hawke and Christian Malheiros for the Best Male Lead award.

Elsewhere, Glenn Close, Toni Collette, Elsie Fisher, Regina Hall, Helena Howard, and Carey Mulligan have all been nominated for the Best Female Lead prize.

'You Were Never Really Here' also faces stiff competition in the Best Feature category, with 'Eighth Grade', 'First Reformed', 'If Beale Street Could Talk' and 'Leave No Trace' vying for the prize.

Meanwhile, the Best Director nominees include Debra Granik, Barry Jenkins, Tamara Jenkins, Ramsay, and Paul Schrader.

The list of nominees was announced by Molly Shannon and 'Crazy Rich Asians' star Gemma Chan.

The Independent Spirit Awards will be staged the night before the Academy Awards in 2019.

Independent Spirit Awards nominees:

Best Feature:

Eighth Grade

First Reformed

If Beale Street Could Talk

Leave No Trace

You Were Never Really Here

Best Male Lead:

John Cho, Searching

Daveed Diggs, Blindspotting

Ethan Hawke, First Reformed

Christian Malheiros, Sócrates

Joaquin Phoenix, You Were Never Really Here

Best Female Lead:

Glenn Close, The Wife

Toni Collette, Hereditary

Elsie Fisher, Eighth Grade

Regina Hall, Support the Girls

Helena Howard, Madeline's Madeline

Carey Mulligan, Wildlife

Best Supporting Actor:

Raul Castillo, We the Animals

Adam Driver, BlacKkKlansman

Richard E. Grant, Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Josh Hamilton, Eighth Grade

John David Washington, Monsters and Men

Best Supporting Actress:

Kayli Carter, Private Life

Tyne Daly, A Bread Factory

Regina King, If Beale Street Could Talk

Thomasin Harcout McKenzie, Leave No Trace

J. Smith-Cameron, Nancy

Best Director:

Debra Granik, Leave No Trace

Barry Jenkins, If Beale Street Could Talk

Tamara Jenkins, Private Life

Lynne Ramsay, You Were Never Really Here

Paul Schrader, First Reformed

Best Screenplay:

Richard Glatzer (Writer/Story By), Rebecca Lenkiewicz & Wash Westmoreland, Colette

Nicole Holofcener & Jeff Whitty, Can You Ever Forgive Me?

Tamara Jenkins, Private Life

Boots Riley, Sorry to Bother You

Paul Schrader, First Reformed

Best First Screenplay:

Bo Burnham, Eighth Grade

Christina Choe, Nancy

Cory Finley, Thoroughbreds

Jennifer Fox, The Tale

Quinn Shephard (Writer/Story By) and Laurie Shephard (Story By), Blame

Best Cinematography:

Ashley Connor, Madeline's Madeline

Diego Garcia, Wildlife

Benjamin Loeb, Mandy

Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, Suspiria

Zak Mulligan, We the Animals

Best Editing:

Joe Bini, You Were Never Really Here

Keiko Deguchi, Brian A. Kates & Jeremiah Zagar, We the Animals

Luke Dunkley, Nick Fenton, Chris Gill & Julian Hart, American Animals

Anne Fabini, Alex Hall and Gary Levy, The Tale

Nick Houy, Mid90s

Best International Film:

Burning (South Korea)

The Favourite (United Kingdom)

Happy as Lazzaro (Italy)

Roma (Mexico)

Shoplifters (Japan)

Best Documentary:

Hale County This Morning, This Evening

Minding the Gap

Of Fathers and Sons

On Her Shoulders

Shirkers

Won't You Be My Neighbor?

Best First Feature:

Hereditary

Sorry to Bother You

The Tale

We the Animals

Wildlife

Bonnie Award:

Debra Granik

Tamara Jenkins

Karyn Kusama

Producers Award:

Jonathan Duffy and Kelly Williams

Gabrielle Nadig

Shrihari Sathe

Someone To Watch Award:

Alex Morrato, Socrates

Ioana Uricaru, Lemonade

Jeremiah Zagar, We the Animals

Truer Than Fiction Award:

Alexandria Bombach, On Her Shoulders

Bing Liu, Minding the Gap

RaMell Ross, 'Hale County This Morning, This Evening