That’s a wrap, the Independent Spirit Awards took place this evening in Los Angeles and “12 Years A Slave‘ all but swept the competition with five wins. The Dede Gardner/Brad Pitt-produced film won Best Picture, Best Director for Chiwetel Ejiofor and Best Supporting Actress among its total prizes.
Alexander Payne‘s “Nebraska” which trailed “12 Years A Slave” with six nominations was all but shut out save for a Best First Screenplay award for Bob Nelson. Other films with multiple nominations like “All Is Lost,” “Inside Llewyn Davis” and “Frances Ha” came up mostly empty handed. Perhaps the strongest narrative of the evening is how much the awards ceremony looks to repeat itself tomorrow night with the Oscars. “Dallas Buyers Club” won the two male acting prizes, Cate Blanchett won Best actress for “Blue Jasmine” and most predictions for the Academy Awards are forecasting the same. If the evening does go mostly similar to the Spirits (though many are seeing a tight race for Best Supporting Actress which could go to Jennifer Lawrence for “American Hustle“), it probably only pronounces the problem many pundits have been complaining about for several years now: The Spirits are much too much like the Oscars and the caps on budgets needs to be lowered to truly make independent films shine.
BEST FEATURE:
WINNER: “12 Years A Slave”
“All Is Lost”
“Frances Ha”
“Inside Llewyn Davis”
“Nebraska”
BEST LEAD FEMALE:
WINNER: Cate Blanchett – “Blue Jasmine”
Julie Delpy – “Before Midnight”
Gaby Hoffman – “Crystal Fairy”
Brie Larson – “Short Term 12”
Shailene Woodley – “The Spectacular Now”
BEST LEAD MALE:
Bruce Dern – “Nebraska”
Chiwetel Ejiofor – “12 Years A Slave”
Oscar Isaac – “Inside Llewyn Davis”
Michael B. Jordan – “Fruitvale Station”
WINNER: Matthew McConaughey – “Dallas Buyers Club”
Robert Redford – “All Is Lost”
BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE:
Melonie Diaz – “Fruitvale Station”
Sally Hawkins – “Blue Jasmine”
WINNER: Lupita Nyong’o – “12 Years A Slave”
Yolanda Ross – “Go For Sisters”
June Squibb – “Nebraska”
BEST SUPPORTING MALE:
Michael Fassbender – “12 Years A Slave”
Will Forte – “Nebraska”
James Gandolfini – “Enough Said”
WINNER: Jared Leto – “Dallas Buyers Club”
Keith Stanfield – “Short Term 12”
BEST DIRECTOR:
Shane Carruth – “Upstream Color”
J.C. Chandor – “All Is Lost”
WINNER: Steve McQueen – “12 Years A Slave”
Jeff Nichols – “Mud”
Alexander Payne – “Nebraska”
BEST FIRST FEATURE:
“Blue Caprice”
“Concussion”
WINNER: “Fruitvale Station”
“Una Noche”
“Wadjda”
JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD:
“Computer Chess”
“Crystal Fairy”
“Museum Hours”
“Pit Stop”
WINNER: “This Is Martin Bonner”
BEST SCREENPLAY:
Woody Allen – “Blue Jasmine”
Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke, Richard Linklater – “Before Midnight”
Nicole Holofcener – “Enough Said”
Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber – “The Spectacular Now”
WINNER: John Ridley – “12 Years A Slave”
BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY:
Lake Bell – “In A World”
Joseph Gordon-Levitt – “Don Jon”
WINNER: Bob Nelson – “Nebraska”
Jill Soloway – “Afternoon Delight”
Michael Starburry – “The Inevitable Defeat Of Mister & Pete”
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
WINNER: Sean Bobbitt – “12 Years A Slave”
Benoit Debie – “Spring Breakers”
Bruno Delbonnel – “Inside Llewyn Davis”
Frank G. Demarco – “All Is Lost”
Matthias Grunsky – “Computer Chess”
BEST EDITING:
Shane Carruth & David Lowery – “Upstream Color”
Jem Cohen & Marc Vives – “Museum Hours”
Jennifer Lame – “Frances Ha”
Cindy Lee – “Una Noche”
WINNER: Nat Sanders – “Short Term 12”
BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM:
“A Touch Of Sin”
WINNER: “Blue Is The Warmest Color”
“Gloria”
“The Great Beauty”
“The Hunt”
BEST DOCUMENTARY
“The Act Of Killing”
“After Tiller”
“Gideon’s Army”
“The Square”
WINNER: “Twenty Feet From Stardom”
PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD
WINNER: Toby Halbrooks & James M. Johnson
Jacob Jaffke
Andrea Roa
Ferderick Thornton
TRUER THAN FICTION AWARDS:
Kalyanee Mam – “A River Changes Course”
WINNER: Jason Osder – “Let The Fire Burn”
Stephanie Spray & Pancho Valez – “Manakamana”
SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARDS:
Aaron Douglas Johnston – “My Sisters’ Quinceanera”
WINNER: Shaka King – “Newlyweeds”
Madeleine Olnek – “The Foxy Merkins”
ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD
“Mud”