Nominations for the Independent Spirit Awards, honoring excellence in independent cinema, were announced last week, with a number of notable Asian American names in the mix... Rajnesh Domalpalli's Vanaja is nominated for Best First Feature. Writer/director Stephane Gauger's Owl and the Sparrow is nominated for the John Cassavetes Award, given each year to the best feature made for under $500,000. That's pretty awesome. Ang Lee's Lust, Caution received a handful of nods, including Best Female Lead for Tang Wei, Best Male Lead for Tony Leung, and Best Cinematography. And Irrfan Khan received a Best Supporting Male nomination for his role in The Namesake. All really great, deserving works—congratulations to all the nominees. View the full list of nominations here. The 2008 Indpendent Spirit Awards ceremony takes place the night before the Oscars, on Saturday, February 23.