When Beasts of the Southern Wild premiered at the Sundance Film Festival back in January 2012, it was a little known indie, very much under the film industry's radar. Just one year later, we have throngs of supporters across the globe, and are emerging as a true award season contender.

Thank you for embracing Beasts of the Southern Wild in the way that you have. We wouldn't be here without you.

Beasts of the Southern Wild's nominations and awards are:

85th ANNUAL ACADEMY AWARDS

Best Picture

Best Director, Benh Zeitlin

Best Actress, Quvenzhané Wallis

Best Adapted Screenplay, Lucy Alibar & Benh Zeitlin

CRITICS CHOICE AWARDS

Best Young Actor / Actress, Quvenzhané Wallis

Nominated:

Best Picture

Best Actress, Quvenzhané Wallis

BAFTA AWARDS

Nominated:

Best Adapted Screenplay, Lucy Alibar & Benh Zeitlin

UNION OF BELGIAN FILM CRITICS

Winner:

Grand Prix 2013, Awarded to the film which has contributed the most to the enrichment of cinemagraphic art

DENVER FILM CRITICS SOCIETY AWARDS

Nominated:

Best Actress, Quvenzhané Wallis

Winners announced Jan 8.

CAPRI, HOLLYWOOD FESTIVAL AWARDS

Winner:

Best Surprise Film of the Year

Best Actress, Quvenzhané Wallis

PRODUCERS GUILD AWARDS

Nominated:

The Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures, Michael Gottwald, Dan Janvey, Josh Penn

Winners to be announced Jan 26.

CENTRAL OHIO FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION AWARDS

Nominated:

Best Film

Best Actress, Quvenzhané Wallis

Breakthrough Film Artist, Quvenzhané Wallis for acting

Breakthrough Film Artist, Benh Zeitlin for composing, directing and screenwriting

Winners to be announced Jan 5.

AFRICAN-AMERICAN FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION AWARDS

Winner:

Breakthrough Performance, Quvenzhané Wallis

Top 10 Films of 2012 (#8)

UTAH FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION AWARDS

Nominated:

Best Actress in a Lead Role, Quvenzhané Wallis

Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Dwight Henry

Winners to be announced TBC.

LONDON CRITICS' CIRCLE FILM AWARDS

Nominated:

The Sky Movies Award: FILM OF THE YEAR

The Sky 3D Award: TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT AWARD, Ben Richardson

Winners announced on Jan 20.

WOMEN'S FILM CRITICS AWARDS

Best Young Actress, Quvenzhané Wallis

AUSTIN FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION AWARDS

Winner:

Best First Film, Benh Zeitlin

Breakthrough Artist, Quvenzhané Wallis

FLORIDA FILM CRITICS CIRCLE AWARDS

Winner:

Breakout Performance, Quvenzhané Wallis

TORONTO FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION AWARDS

Winner:

Best First Feature (Tie), Benh Zeitlin

DALLAS FORT WORTH FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION AWARDS

Winner:

Top Ten Films of 2012 (#10)

Top Five Actresses of 2012 (#5), Quvenzhané Wallis

SOUTHEASTERN FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION AWARDS

Winner:

Gene Wyatt Award for film that best evokes the spirit of the South

Top 10 Film of 2012

CHICAGO FILM CRITICS AWARDS

Winner:

Most Promising Performer, Quvenzhané Wallis

Most Promising Filmmaker, Benh Zeitlin

Nominated:

Best Picture

Best Director, Benh Zeitlin

Best Actress, Quvenzhané Wallis

Best Supporting Actor, Dwight Henry

Best Adapted Screenplay, Lucy Alibar & Benh Zeitlin

Best Original Score, Dan Romer & Benh Zeitlin

Most Promising Performer, Dwight Henry

LAS VEGAS FILM CRITICS SOCIETY SIERRA AWARDS

Winner:

Top Ten Film of 2012

Breakout Filmmaker of the Year, Benh Zeitlin

NAACP IMAGE AWARDS

Nominated:

Beast Motion Picture

Best Independent Motion Picture

Best Actress in a Motion Picture, Quvenzhané Wallis

Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture, Dwight Henry

Winners announced live on Feb 1.

PHOENIX FILM CRITICS SOCIETY AWARDS

Winner:

Top Ten Film of 2012

Nominated:

Best Actress in a Leading Role, Quvenzhané Wallis

Breakthrough Performance on Camera, Quvenzhané Wallis & Dwight Henry

Breakthrough Performance Behind the Camera, Benh Zeitlin

Best Performance by a Youth in a Lead or Supporting Role - Female, Quvenzhané Wallis

Winners announced on Dec 18.

WASHINGTON DC AREA FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION AWARDS

Winner:

Best Youth Performance, Quvenzhané Wallis

ST. LOUIS FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION AWARDS

Nominated:

Best Director, Benh Zeitlin

Best Actress, Quvenzhané Wallis

Best Adapted Screenplay, Benh Zeitlin & Lucy Alibar

Best Cinematography, Ben Richardson

Best Music/Score, Dan Romer & Benh Zeitlin

Best Scene, The Hurricane with Wink shooting at the storm

SAN DIEGO FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION AWARDS

Nominated:

Best Cinematography, Ben Richardson

Best Music/Score, Dan Romer & Benh Zeitlin

LOS ANGELES FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION AWARDS

Winner:

Best Supporting Actor, Dwight Henry

Best Score, Dan Romer & Benh Zeitlin

Next Generation Award, Benh Zeitlin

NEW YORK FILM CRITICS ONLINE AWARDS

Winner:

Breakthrough Performance, Quvenzhané Wallis

Debut Director, Benh Zeitlin

NATIONAL BOARD OF REVIEW

Winner:

Top Films

Best Directorial Debut, Benh Zeitlin

Breakthrough Performance, Quvenzhané Wallis

SATELLITE AWARDS

Winner:

Newcomer Award, Quvenzhané Wallis

Humanitarian Award, Benh Zeitlin

Nominated:

Best Motion Picture

Best Original Score, Dan Romer and Benh Zeitlin

Best Cinematography, Ben Richardson

Breakthrough Actress, Quvenzhané Wallis

AFI MOVIE OF THE YEAR

Winner:

Top Ten Movie of 2012

SMITHSONIAN'S AMERICAN INGENUITY AWARDS

Visual Arts, Benh Zeitlin

INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARDS

Nominated:

Best Feature

Best Director, Benh Zeitlin

Best Female Lead, Quvenzhané Wallis

Best Cinematography, Ben Richardson

Winners announced on Feb 23.

GOTHAM AWARDS

Winner:

Breakthrough Director, Benh Zeitlin

Bingham Ray Award, Benh Zeitlin

Nominated:

Breakthrough Actor, Quvenzhané Wallis

Audience Award

HOLLYWOOD FILM AWARDS

Winner:

New Hollywood Awards, Quvenzhané Wallis

BLACK REEL AWARDS

Winner:

Best Actress, Quvenzhané Wallis

Best Breakthrough Performance, Quvenzhané Wallis

Best Film, Josh Penn, Michael Gottwald, Dan Janvey (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Best Original Score, Benh Zeitlin, Dan Romer

Nominated:

Best Breakthrough Performance, Dwight Henry

Best Supporting Actor, Dwight Henry

ACADEMY OF SCIENCE FICTION, FANTASY & HORROR FILMS, USA

Nominated:

Best Performance by a Younger Actor/Actress, Quvenzhané Wallis

BOSTON SOCIETY OF FILM CRITICS AWARDS

2nd Place:

Best New Filmmaker, Benh Zeitlin

BRITISH FILM INSTITUTE AWARDS

Winner:

Sutherland Trophy, Benh Zeitlin

BRITISH INDEPENDENT FILM AWARDS

Nominated:

2012 Best International Independent Film

BROADCAST FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION AWARDS

Winner:

Best Young Actor/Actress, Quvenzhané Wallis

Nominated:

Best Actress, Quvenzhané Wallis

Best Picture, Beasts of the Southern Wild

CAMERIMAGE

Nominated:

Best Cinematography, Ben Richardson

CHLOTRUDIS AWARDS

Winner:

Best Production Design, Alex DiGerlando

Nominated:

Best Actress, Quvenzhané Wallis

Best Adapted Screenplay, Lucy Alibar, Benh Zeitlin

Best Cinematography, Ben Richardson

Best Director, Benh Zeitlin

Best Movie

Best Supporting Actor, Dwight Henry

COSTUME DESIGNERS GUILD AWARDS

Nominated:

Excellence in Contemporary Film, Stephani Lewis

EMPIRE AWARDS, UK

Nominated:

Best Female Newcomer, Quvenzhané Wallis

EVENING STANDARD BRITISH FILM AWARDS

Nominated:

Best Technical Achievement,

Ben Richardson (cinematography)

GOLDEN TRAILER AWARDS

Nominated:

Best Independent Poster (Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Best Independent TV Spot (Mark Woolen & Associates and Fox Searchlight Pictures)

Best Independent Trailer (Mark Woolen & Associates and Fox Searchlight Pictures)

HUMANITAS PRIZE

Winner:

Humanitas Prize,

Lucy Alibar (Writer) Benh Zeitlin (Writer)

IMAGE AWARDS

Winner:

Outstanding Directing in a Motion Picture (Theatrical or Television),

Benh Zeitlin

Outstanding Independent Motion Picture

Nominated:

Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture, Quvenzhané

Wallis

Outstanding Motion Picture

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture,

Dwight Henry

MTV MOVIE AWARDS

Nominated:

Breakthrough Performance, Quvenzhané

Wallis

MOTION PICTURE SOUND EDITORS, USA

Nominated:

Best Sound Editing - Dialogue and ADR in a Feature Film Bob Edwards (supervising sound editor) Michael Silvers (dialogue/adr editor) Chris Gridley (supervising dialogue/adr editor) Kim Foscato (dialogue/adr editor)

NEW YORK FILM CRITICS CIRCLE AWARDS

2nd Place:

Best First Film,

Benh Zeitlin

ONLINE FILM CRITICS SOCIETY AWARDS

Nominated:

Best Actress, Quvenzhané

Wallis

Best Adapted Screenplay,

Lucy Alibar, Benh Zeitlin

Best Supporting Actor,

Dwight Henry

PGA AWARDS

Nominated:

Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures,

Michael Gottwald, Josh Penn, Dan Janvey

USC SCRIPTER AWARD

Nominated:

Lucy Alibar

(playwright and screenwriter)

Benh Zeitlin

(screenwriter)

YOUNG ARTIST AWARDS

Nominated:

Best Performance in a Feature Film - Leading Young Actress, Quvenzhané

Wallis

Benh Zeitlin receives the Smithsonian American Ingenuity Award for Visual Arts tonight at a special ceremony in Washington, DC. The awards recognize and honor individuals who have exemplified innovation in a range of fields including social progress, natural and physical sciences, education, technology and youth achievement. Among the honorees are: Jack Andraka, a high school senior who has invented a way to detect a lethal type of cancer; Anne Kelly Knowles, a history enthusiast who challenges the way we look at geography and its historical influence; and Bryan Stevenson, a lawyer who has dedicated his life to giving a voice to youth behind bars. The full list of honorees can be found here.

Benh was profiled by Smithonsian.com to discuss how his unconventional approach to filmmaking.

"Beasts is Zeitlin’s feature film debut, a small miracle of deliberate outsider art that entranced and exhilarated audiences during its limited theatrical run this past summer. Unruly, unbound by studios or the usual Hollywood conventions, this paean to childhood perception and human resilience exists in its own hermetically sealed world, physically and metaphorically. Zeitlin made the movie on a $1.8 million shoestring in southern Louisiana with hand-held 16-millimeter cameras, jury-rigged sets, untrained actors and a grass-roots collective of artists from around the country. By ignoring received wisdom and gambling on his own powers of invention, he offered further proof that innovation is about breaking rules."

Congratulations to all the honorees. It is truly an honor to be recognized amongst so many amazing people who are changing the world for the better.

You can read the full article here.