Hollywood braved the sand on Saturday for the 2016 Film Independent Spirit Awards, where “Spotlight” emerged as the big winner on the beach in Santa Monica, California.
The investigative journalism drama took Best Feature, Best Director for Tom McCarthy, Best Screenplay and the Robert Altman Award among others.
The acting categories brought Brie Larson one step closer to a clean sweep of the season, as she rated Best Female Lead for “Room.” Mya Taylor made history as the first trans performer to win Best Supporting Female for “Tangerine.”
The men of “Beasts of No Nation” swept the men’s performance category with Best Male Lead for 15-year-old Abraham Attah and Best Supporting Male for Idris Elba. Indonesian genocide documentary “The Look of Silence” also won Best Documentary.
The 2016 ceremony tapped “Saturday Night Live” breakout and forthcoming “Ghostbusters” star Kate McKinnon to co-host with “Silicon Valley” funnyman Kumail Nanjiani.
The pair’s opening monologue featured the expected jabs at indie film culture (“It’s definitely about losing money,” McKinnon said of investors) and some gloating over the Indie Spirits’ considerably better representation of diversity in comparison to the Oscars.
“Our nominees are as divere as the cover of a brochure for a liberal arts college,” Nanjiani said. “While the Oscar nominees are as diverse as the actual student body of a liberal arts college.”
Read the list of winners below:
Best Feature
“Anomalisa”
“Beasts of No Nation”
“Carol”
“Spotlight” *WINNER
“Tangerine”
Best Director
Charlie Kaufman & Duke Johnson, “Anomalisa”
Cary Joji Fukunaga, “Beasts of No Nation”
Todd Haynes, “Carol”
David Robert Mitchell, “It Follows”
Tom McCarthy, “Spotlight” *WINNER
Sean Baker, “Tangerine”
Best Female Lead
Cate Blanchett, “Carol”
Rooney Mara, “Carol”
Bel Powley, “The Diary of a Teenage Girl”
Brie Larson, “Room” *WINNER
Kitana Kiki Rodriguez, “Tangerine”
Best Male Lead
Abraham Attah, “Beasts of No Nation” *WINNER
Jason Segel, “The End of the Tour”
Christopher Abbott, “James White”
Koudous Seihon, “Mediterranea”
Ben Mendelsohn, “Mississippi Grind”
Best Supporting Female
Jennifer Jason Leigh, “Anomalisa”
Marin Ireland, “Glass Chin”
Robin Bartlett, “H.”
Cynthia Nixon, “James White”
Mya Taylor, “Tangerine” *WINNER
Best Supporting Male
Idris Elba, “Beasts of No Nation” *WINNER
Richard Jenkins, “Bone Tomahawk”
Paul Dano, “Love & Mercy”
Kevin Corrigan, “Results”
Michael Shannon, “99 Homes”
Best Screenplay
“Anomalisa”
“Bone Tomahawk”
“Carol”
“The End of the Tour”
“Spotlight” *WINNER
Best First Feature
“The Diary of a Teenage Girl” *WINNER
“James White”
“Manos Sucas”
“Mediterranea”
“Songs My Brothers Taught Me”
Best First Screenplay
“The Diary of a Teenage Girl”
“Me and Earl and the Dying Girl”
“Mediterranea”
“The Mend”
“Room” *WINNER
Best Editing
“Heaven Knows What”
“It Follows”
“Manos Sucias”
“Room”
“Spotlight” *WINNER
Best Cinematography
“Beasts of No Nation”
“Carol” *WINNER
“It Follows”
“Meadowland”
“Songs My Brothers Taught Me”
Best Documentary
“Best of Enemies”
“Heart of a Dog”
“The Look of Silence” *WINNER
“Meru”
“The Russian Woodpecker”
“(T)error”
Best International Film
“Embrace of the Serpent”
“Girlhood”
“Mustang”
“A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence”
“Son of Saul” *WINNER
“Advantageous”
“Christmas, Again”
“Heaven Knows What”
“Krisha” *WINNER
“Out of My Hand”
“Spotlight”
Piaget Producers Award
Darren Dean
Mel Eslyn *WINNER
Rebecca Green and Laura D. Smith
Kiehl’s Someone to Watch Award
“God Bless the Child”
“King Jack” *WINNER
“Songs My Brother Taught Me”
Truer Than Fiction Award
“Among the Believers”
“Incorruptible” *WINNER
“A Woman Like Me”