LOS ANGELES (AP) — The urban drama Precious and the Leo Tolstoy period piece The Last Station each earned a leading five nominations Tuesday for the Spirit Awards honouring independent film.

The two acclaimed movies will compete for best feature film with the romance 500 Days of Summer and the immigrant dramas Amreeka and Sin Nombre.

Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire also earned a best-actress nomination for newcomer Gabourey Sidibe, who plays an illiterate Harlem teen rising above a life of incest and abuse, and a supportingactress slot for Mo’Nique, who plays her mother. The movie also grabbed honours for director Lee Daniels and screenwriter Geoffrey Fletcher.

Helen Mirren had a bestactress nomination for her role as Tolstoy’s wife in The Last Station, while Christopher Plummer earned a supportingactor honor as the aging Russian author in the drama centred on a struggle over his estate. Filmmaker Michael Hoffman received directing and screenplay nominations for Last Station.

The Spirit Awards will be presented March 5, two days before the Academy Awards, in a ceremony airing on the Independent Film Channel.

Though many low-budget films competing for Spirit Awards never gain traction for the Oscars, notable contenders often go on to earn nominations for Hollywood’s top honors. Last year’s acting contenders for the Spirit Awards included eventual bestactor Oscar winner Sean Penn for Milk, along with Oscar nominees Mickey Rourke for The Wrestler, Anne Hathaway for Rachel Getting Married and Melissa Leo for Frozen River.

Absent from this year’s Spirit Awards nominations is the acclaimed Iraq War drama The Hurt Locker, which was eligible for those prizes last year. Because it was released theatrically this year, it is eligible for the 2009 Oscars, whose nominations come out February 2.