The Independent Spirit Awards are usually a breath of a fresh air from the cycle of familiar faces at the peak of awards season, and this year is no different. If the majority of Oscar predictions are to be believed, tomorrow's Academy Awards ceremony will likely rain down accolades on The Revenant, but today's Spirit Awards ceremony was all about Spotlight. The film took home five trophies in all, including Best Picture, Best Director for Tom McCarthy, Best Screenplay for McCarthy and Co-writer Josh Singer, Best Editing for Tom McArdle, and the tremendous work from the film's cast led by Mark Ruffalo, Rachel McAdams, Michael Keaton, Liev Schreiber, Brian d’Arcy James, and Stanley Tucci earned The Robert Altman award for the director, casting director and ensemble .
As for the Spirit Award's other major acting categories, Brie Larson won Best Actress for her performance in Room, Idris Elba took home Best Supporting Actor for Beasts of No Nation;, and as the first trans actor to win a major acting award, Mya Taylor took home Best Supporting Actress for Tangerine in a history-making win. And in the category that is all but guaranteed to go to Leonardo DiCaprio at tomorrow's Oscar ceremony, Best Actor was awarded to young Beasts of No Nation lead Abraham Attah (whose absence from the Academy Awards nominations is mystifying).
Elsewhere, Marielle Heller's tremendous debut The Diary of a Teenage Girl took home Best First Feature, while Room Emma Donoghue took home Best First Screenplay for her adaptation of her own novel. Joshua Oppenheimer's The Look of Silence, his stunning follow-up to The Act of Killing, took home Best Documentary, while Best International Film went to the Hungarian picture Son of Saul.
Todd Haynes' stunningly goregeous period romance, Carol, took home a well deserved Cinematography win for Ed Lachman, whose splendid work has been woefully overshadowed by the awards-force The Revenant has become.
Check out the full list of the 2016 Independent Spirit Awards winners below.
BEST FEMALE LEAD
Brie Larson, Room
BEST MALE LEAD
Abraham Attah, Beasts Of No Nation
BEST DIRECTOR
Tom McCarthy, Spotlight
BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
Mya Taylor, Tangerine
BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
Son of Saul (Hungary)
Director: László Nemes
BEST DOCUMENTARY
The Look of Silence (Drafthouse Films/Participant Media)
Director: Joshua Oppenheimer
Producer: Signe Byrge Sørensen
BEST SCREENPLAY
Tom McCarthy & Josh Singer, Spotlight
JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD
(Best Feature Under $500,000)
Krisha
Writer/Director: Trey Edward Shults
Producers: Justin R. Chan, Chase Joliet, Wilson Smith
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Ed Lachman, Carol
BEST FIRST FEATURE
The Diary of a Teenage Girl
Director: Marielle Heller
Producers: Miranda Bailey, Anne Carey, Bert Hamelinck, Madeline Samit
Robert Altman Award (Best Ensemble)
Spotlight
Director: Tom McCarthy
Casting Directors: Kerry Barden and Paul Schnee
Ensemble Cast: Billy Crudup, Paul Guilfoyle, Neal Huff, Brian d’Arcy James, Michael Keaton, Rachel McAdams, Mark Ruffalo, Liev Schreiber, Jamey Sheridan, John Slattery, Stanley Tucci
BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Emma Donoghue, Room
BEST SUPPORTING MALE
Idris Elba, Beasts Of No Nation
Piaget Producers Award
Mel Eslyn
Truer Than Fiction Award
Incorruptible
Director: Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi
Kiehl’s Someone to Watch Award
King Jack
Director: Felix Thompson
BEST EDITING
Tom McArdle, Spotlight