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2009 Independent Spirit Awards Winners Announced

by Alex Billington
February 21, 2009
Source: Filmmaker Magazine

Darren Aronofsky and Producer Scott Franklin

The Independent Spirit Awards are an annual award given in the name of independent film, featuring those little indies which deserve the honor and recognition that they won't necessarily be receiving at the Oscars tomorrow. The winners were announced earlier tonight at the ceremony held on the beach in Santa Monica. Darren Aronofsky's The Wrestler took home the most awards, a total of three, for Best Cinematography, Best Actor, and Best Feature. The rest of the winners couldn't be more deserving and I expect I'll end up liking these winners more than those that are chosen tomorrow night at the Oscars.

You'll notice an [IMDb] link next to each film. This is so you can explore and discover great new films, because there is guaranteed to be at least one you've never heard of in here. Read on for the complete list of nominees and winners from the 24th Independent Spirit Awards. Winners are designated in BOLD.

BEST FEATURE
Ballast [IMDb]
Frozen River [IMDb]
Rachel Getting Married [IMDb]
Wendy and Lucy [IMDb]
The Wrestler [IMDb]

BEST FIRST FEATURE
Afterschool [IMDb]
Medicine for Melancholy [IMDb]
Sangre De Mi Sangre [IMDb]
Sleep Dealer [IMDb]
Synecdoche, New York [IMDb]

BEST DIRECTOR
Ramin Bahrani - Chop Shop [IMDb]
Jonathan Demme - Rachel Getting Married [IMDb]
Lance Hammer - Ballast [IMDb]
Courtney Hunt - Frozen River [IMDb]
Tom McCarthy - The Visitor [IMDb]

BEST MALE LEAD
Javier Bardem - Vicky Cristina Barcelona [IMDb]
Richard Jenkins - The Visitor [IMDb]
Sean Penn - Milk [IMDb]
Jeremy Renner - The Hurt Locker [IMDb]
Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler [IMDb]

BEST FEMALE LEAD
Summer Bishil - Towelhead [IMDb]
Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married [IMDb]
Melissa Leo - Frozen River [IMDb]
Tarra Riggs - Ballast [IMDb]
Michelle Williams - Wendy and Lucy [IMDb]

BEST SUPPORTING MALE
James Franco - Milk [IMDb]
Anthony Mackie - The Hurt Locker [IMDb]
Charlie McDermott - Frozen River [IMDb]
JimMyron Ross - Ballast [IMDb]
Haaz Sleiman - The Visitor [IMDb]

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona [IMDb]
Rosemarie DeWitt - Rachel Getting Married [IMDb]
Rosie Perez - The Take [IMDb]
Misty Upham - Frozen River [IMDb]
Debra Winger - Rachel Getting Married [IMDb]

BEST SCREENPLAY
Woody Allen - Vicky Cristina Barcelona [IMDb]
Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck - Sugar [IMDb]
Charlie Kaufman - Synecdoche, New York [IMDb]
Howard A. Rodman - Savage Grace [IMDb]
Christopher Zalla - Sangre De Mi Sangre [IMDb]

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Dustin Lance Black - Milk [IMDb]
Lance Hammer - Ballast [IMDb]
Courtney Hunt - Frozen River [IMDb]
Jonathan Levine - The Wackness [IMDb]
Jenny Lumet - Rachel Getting Married [IMDb]

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Maryse Alberti - The Wrestler [IMDb]
Lol Crawley - Ballast [IMDb]
James Laxton - Medicine for Melancholy [IMDb]
Harris Savides - Milk [IMDb]
Michael Simmonds - Chop Shop [IMDb]

BEST DOCUMENTARY
The Betrayal [IMDb]
Encounters at the End of the World [IMDb]
Man on Wire [IMDb]
The Order of Myths [IMDb]
Up the Yangtze [IMDb]

BEST FOREIGN FILM
The Class (France) [IMDb]
Gomorra (Italy) [IMDb]
Hunger (U.K./Ireland) [IMDb]
Secret of the Grain (France) [IMDb]
Silent Light (Mexico/France/Netherlands/Germany) [IMDb]

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD
Best feature made for less than $500,000.
In Search of a Midnight Kiss [IMDb]
Prince of Broadway [IMDb]
The Signal [IMDb]
Take Out [IMDb]
Turn the River [IMDb]

For last year's list of nominees and winners, which included Juno, The Lookout, and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, click right here. A very big indie congratulations to all of this year's winners and nominees!

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Related categories: Awards News, Movie News

Fuelbot

Aronofsky looks so skeevy with that moustache.
RoarSaysAlex

god i hate "The Wrestler" and Mickey Rourke soooo damn much *shakes fist*
Jont

i will meet roarsaysalex anywhere anytime for an old fashion fist fight which i will guarantee victory in right now
Scott McHenry

i dont like mickey either, but his performance was awesome
max

I would have rather seen Wendy and Lucy win some ... Or Rachel Getting Married. In The Wrestler it seemed like Mickey Rourke was just playing himself, if he was a old-wrestler... Wasnt that amazing in my opinion. The Class is a great movie and it sure deserved the best foireign movie award! I think Waltz with Bashir gonna take the academy award, so good that The Class gets this one! Melissa Leo deserved the win, but Anne Hathaway would have been my ping. James Franco also deserved the win! I dont get why hes not even nominated for the oscar. The Visitor was also a real nice experience, so im glad Tom McCarthy won the director prize.
Matt

Oh man these are so much nicer then the inevitable Slumdog Suckfest we're going to get tonight. Ugh. Fantastic to see McCarthy get some recognition for The Visitor, same for Synecdoche. Those were easily the two best films I saw this year, it's a not-at-all-surprising shame they aren't getting any Oscar love, outside of a much-deserved nod for Richard Jenkins. (The Wrestler was very good though, deserving of it's wins for sure, it's at least a hell of a lot better then Slumdog Millionaire. Meh).
Matt

Also, Aronofsky looks like fat David Arquette in Scream, aka fucking gnarbone.
http://movieguyreviews4u.blogspot.com Ryan

I got IFC channel this year (thanks Comcast) and found this show so much more entertaining than any other. It was very laid back, totally live, and unedited. After the show it was nice to see the celebs mingle. The acceptance speeches were short, funny, and seemingly truthful. Also I like the celebs performing made up songs about the movies. While oinly one or two were ok, I have a feeling it will be better than what Jackman, Beyonce, Efron and Hudgens are about to do tonight.
sumonesumtime

This is more of what it should look like.
http://movies.iconocritic.com peloquin

I'm sooooo glad to see In Search of a Midnight Kiss take home an award. That film was phenomenal and had heart unlike anything I've seen in the past 5 years.
Johnny

agreed with #6. fuck slumdog millionare.
Anne Siebenhoven

Listen, James Franco was tearing out the door with 'Milk' until somebody said 'Don't look now Sean,that Franco kid is stealing your movie. Ugly him up and get him out of there!' So I'm very happy he won this. But if there any real justice, he would have been going toe to toe with Penn, Rourke, Langella and the rest of them for Best Actor/Pineapple Express! Anne Siebenhoven vctesse@hotmail.com
http://www.elte.com/ Hand Knotted Rugs

Kind of boring to hear this award show "and the winner is... *sigh* The Wrestler ... again"