Indie Spirits Honor Precious, Frustrate Audience

The Independent Spirit Awards used to be held the day before the Oscars on a beach in Santa Monica, and while sticking to that paradigm would have made for a rainy, muddy day today in Los Angeles, moving it to last night and setting it in downtown's cavernous LA Live was just as ill-advised. The team from Precious was happy since the film picked up the lion's share of awards (such as Best Feature, Best Director, Best Actress, and Best First Screenplay), but grumbling over the corporate feel and red carpet gauntlet dominated talk among the attendees. Carly and I will have more from that carpet for you this weekend, but in the meantime, here is the full list of winners:

BEST FEATURE

Precious

BEST DIRECTOR

Lee Daniels, Precious

BEST FIRST FEATURE

Crazy Heart

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD

Humpday

BEST SCREENPLAY

Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber, 500 Days of Summer

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY

Geoffrey Fletcher, Precious

BEST FEMALE LEAD

Gabourey Sidibe, Precious

BEST MALE LEAD

Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE

Mo'Nique, Precious

BEST SUPPORTING MALE

Woody Harrelson, The Messenger

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Roger Deakins, A Serious Man

BEST DOCUMENTARY

Sacha Gervasi, Anvil! The Story of Anvil

BEST FOREIGN FILM

Lone Scherfig, An Education

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD

A Serious Man

PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD

Karen Chien (The Exploding Girl & Santa Mesa)

SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD

Kyle Patrick Alvarez (Easier with Practice)

TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD

Bill Ross & Turner Ross (45365)