Countdown to Oscar 2010: The Independent Spirit Awards 2009

The Independent Spirit Awards or Film Independent’s Spirit Awards were founded in 1984 and are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. The Independent Spirit Awards 2009 announced its nominees in December 2009. The winners were announced on March 5, 2010.


Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire won five Independent Spirit Awards: best picture, director, screenplay, actress, and supporting actress. That is one short of the record of six held by Fargo, Sideways, and Stand and Deliver.

Winners (in bold) and nominees:

Best Film (Best Feature)
Precious

(500) Days of Summer
Amreeka
The Last Station
Without Name (Sin nombre)

Best Director
Lee Daniels – Precious

Ethan and Joel Coen – A Serious Man
Cary Joji Fukunaga – Without Name (Sin nombre)
James Gray – Two Lovers
Michael Hoffman – The Last Station

Best Actor (Best Male Lead)
Jeff Bridges – Crazy Heart

Colin Firth – A Single Man
Joseph Gordon-Levitt – (500) Days of Summer
Souleymane Sy Savane – Goodbye Solo
Adam Scott – The Vicious Kind

Best Actress (Best Female Lead)
Gabourey Sidibe – Precious

Maria Bello – Downloading Nancy
Nisreen Faour – Amreeka
Helen Mirren – The Last Station
Gwyneth Paltrow – Two Lovers

Best Supporting Actor (Best Supporting Male)
Woody Harrelson – The Messenger

Jemaine Clement – Gentlemen Broncos
Christian McKay – Me and Orson Welles
Ray McKinnon – That Evening Sun
Christopher Plummer – The Last Station

Best Supporting Actress (Best Supporting Female)
Mo'Nique – Precious

Dina Korzun – Cold Souls
Samantha Morton – The Messenger
Natalie Press – Fifty Dead Men Walking
Mia Wasikowska – That Evening Sun

Best Screenplay
(500) Days of Summer – Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber

Adventureland – Greg Mottola
The Last Station – Michael Hoffman
The Messenger – Alessandro Camon and Oren Moverman
The Vicious Kind – Lee Toland Krieger

Best First Screenplay
Precious – Geoffrey Fletcher

Amreeka – Cherien Dabis
Cold Souls – Sophie Barthes
Crazy Heart – Scott Cooper
A Single Man – Tom Ford and David Scearce

Best First Feature
Crazy Heart

Easier with Practice
The Messenger
Paranormal Activity
A Single Man

Best Cinematography
A Serious Man – Roger Deakins

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans – Peter Zeitlinger
Cold Souls – Andrij Parekh
Treeless Mountain – Anne Misawa
Without Name (Sin nombre) – Adriano Goldman

Best Foreign Film
An Education – Lone Scherfig • France/UK

A Prophet (Un prophète) – Jacques Audiard • France
Everlasting Moments (Maria Larssons eviga ögonblick) – Jan Troell • Sweden
Mother (Madeo) – Bong Joon-ho • South Korea
The Maid (La nana) – Sebastián Silva • Chile

Best Documentary
Anvil! The Story of Anvil – Sacha Gervasi

Food, Inc. – Robert Kenner
More Than a Game – Kristopher Belman
October Country – Michael Palmieri and Donal Mosher
Which Way Home – Rebecca Cammisa

John Cassavetes Award
Humpday

Big Fan
The New Year Parade
Treeless Mountain
Zero Bridge

Truer Than Fiction Award
45365 – Bill Ross IV and Turner Ross

Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo – Jessica Oreck
El general – Natalia Almada

Someone to Watch Award
Kyle Patrick Alvarez for Easier with Practice

Asiel Norton for Redland
Tariq Tapa for Zero Bridge

Producers Award
Karin Chien for Santa Mesa and The Exploding Girl

Larry Fessenden for I Sell the Dead and The House of the Devil
Dia Sokol for Beeswax and Nights and Weekends

Robert Altman Award
Director and cast of “A Serious Man”