“Birdman” won Best Feature today at the 30th annual Film Independent Spirit Awards under a tent at Santa Monica Beach. The win gave it three trophies, breaking a four-way tie with “Boyhood,” “Nightcrawler” and “Whiplash,” the only other films with multiple wins.
“Birdman” star Michael Keaton won Best Male Lead, and Julianne Moore sealed her Oscar front-runner status with the Best Female Lead win for “Still Alice.” Get your Oscar speeches ready!
Richard Linklater won Best Director for “Boyhood,” which I finally had a chance to see tonight. Never has a film about real life been so riveting. The win sets him up for a neck-and-neck race for the Oscar with “Birdman” director Alejandro G. Inarritu, who took home the Directors Guild Award two weeks ago. Linklater wasn’t at tonight’s event, so “Boyhood” star and frequent collaborator Ethan Hawke accepted for him.
Patricia Arquette won Best Supporting Actress for “Boyhood” and J.K. Simmons took the Best Supporting Actor for “Whiplash.” These two are sure bets to take home the gold statues at the Oscars tomorrow.
Meanwhile, “Citizenfour,” Laura Poitras’ film about NSA leaker Edward Snowden, continued its awards-season reign with a win for Best Documentary. “Nightcrawler” writer-director Dan Gilroy scored much-deserved trophies for Best First Feature and Best Screenplay. It’s nice to see that film getting some recognition, although as we noted in “The Janie Awards,” Jake Gyllenhaal’s roles are too twisted for awards.
“Selma,” which had five Spirit Award nominations, was shut out yet again. “Love Is Strange” was up for four awards and also came up empty.
Here’s the complete list of Spirit Awards 2015 winners:
BEST FEATURE
Birdman
Producers: Alejandro G. Iñárritu, John Lesher, Arnon Milchan, James W. Skotchdopole
BEST MALE LEAD
Michael Keaton, Birdman
BEST FEMALE LEAD
Julianne Moore, Still Alice
BEST DIRECTOR
Richard Linklater, Boyhood
BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
BEST SUPPORTING MALE
J.K. Simmons, Whiplash
BEST SCREENPLAY
Dan Gilroy, Nightcrawler
BEST DOCUMENTARY
Citizenfour
Director/Producer: Laura Poitras
Producers: Mathilde Bonnefoy, Dirk Wilutzky
BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
Ida (Poland), Director: Pawel Pawlikowski
BEST FIRST FEATURE
Nightcrawler
Director: Dan Gilroy; Producers: Jennifer Fox, Tony Gilroy, Jake Gyllenhaal, David Lancaster, Michel Litvak
BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Justin Simien, Dear White People
BEST EDITING
Tom Cross, Whiplash
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Emmanuel Lubezki, Birdman
JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD
Land Ho!
Writers/Directors: Aaron Katz & Martha Stephens; Producers: Christina Jennings, Mynette Louie, Sara Murphy
LENSCRAFTERS TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD
The Kill Team, Director: Dan Krauss
PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD
Chris Chison
KIEHL’S SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD
H., Directors: Rania Attieh & Daniel Garcia
Wins by film:
Birdman: 3
Boyhood: 2
Nightcrawler: 2
Whiplash: 2
Citizenfour: 1
Dear White People: 1
H.: 1
Ida: 1
The Kill Team: 1
Land Ho!: 1
Still Alice: 1
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