SANTA MONICA—It was the day before the granddaddy of all award shows, the Academy Awards, but awards season is not over. The 30th Independent Spirit Awards were held on Saturday, February 21 on the beachfront, and the big winner of the night was “Birdman” which took home a total of three awards including Best Feature.
The festivities were hosted by “SNL” alum Fred Armisen and actress Kristen Bell. There were those funny moment, albeit the hosts spoofing “Birdman” and “Whiplash.”
Julianne Moore continued to be a force to reckon with this season taking home the trophy for Best Female Lead for her performance in “Still Alice.” Oscar is indeed calling her name. For Best Male Lead, Michael Keaton was victorious for his work in “Birdman,” but he wasn’t facing competition against Eddie Redmayne for “The Theory of Everything.”
Thespians J.K. Simmons and Patricia Arquette proved they are unbeatable in this year’s supporting actor and supporting actress races. Both took home prizes for their work in “Whiplash” and “Boyhood.” In one of those competitive races, Best Director went to Richard Linklater for “Boyhood.”
In the writing categories, Best Screenplay went to Dan Gilroy for “Nightcrawler,” while Best First Screenplay went to Justin Simien for “Dear White People.”
The prize for Best First Feature was a win for “Nightcrawler,” and the John Cassavetes Award went to “Land Ho!”
A list of other winners from the ceremony are listed below:
Best Editing
-Tom Cross “Whiplash”
Best Cinematography
-Emmanul Lubezki “Birdman”
Best Documentary
-“Citizenfour”
Best International Film
-“Ida”
Robert Altman Award
-“Inherent Vice”
Special Distinction Award
-“Foxcatcher”
18th Annual Piaget Producers Award
-Chris Ohlson
21st Annual Kiehl’s Someone To Watch Award
-“H.”
20th Annual Lenscrafters Truer Than Fiction Award
-“The Kill Team”
