The Artist began its march to Oscar glory today as it took the top prize at the annual Independent Spirit Awards. The film scored Best Feature, Male Lead, Best Director and Best Cinematography. Other big winners at the independent film fest awards that is held on the beach in Santa Monica were Michelle Williams in a shocking win as Female Lead for her work on My Week with Marilyn. And Supporting Female provided a shocker as well with Shailene Woodley earning a victory for her work on The Descendants.
Christopher Plummer won for Best Supporting Male for Beginners while the screenwriters from The Descendants scored for Best Screenplay. Look for them to also win the Oscar in the same category (as we call it in our Oscar predictions).
Independent Spirit Award Winners:
FEATURE
The Artist - Producer: Thomas Langmann
MALE LEAD
Jean Dujardin - The Artist
FEMALE LEAD
Michelle Williams - My Week with Marilyn
SUPPORTING MALE
Christopher Plummer - Beginners
SUPPORTING FEMALE
Shailene Woodley - The Descendants
DIRECTOR
Michel Hazanavicius - The Artist
SCREENPLAY
Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash - The Descendants
FIRST FEATURE
Margin Call - Director: J.C. Chandor; producers: Robert Ogden Barnum, Michael Benaroya, Neal Dodson, Joe Jenckes, Corey Moosa, Zachary Quinto
FIRST SCREENPLAY
Will Reiser - 50/50
JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD
Pariah - Writer/Director: Dee Rees; Producer: Nekisa Cooper
CINEMATOGRAPHY
Guillaume Schiffman - The Artist
DOCUMENTARY
The Interrupters - Director/Producer: Steve James; Producer: Alex Kotlowitz
INTERNATIONAL FILM
A Separation (Iran) - Director: Asghar Farhadi
AUDI SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD
Mark Jackson - Without
PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD
Sophia Lin - Take Shelter
TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD
Heather Courtney - Where Soldiers Come From
ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD
Margin Call, Director: J.C. Chandor; casting Director: Tiffany Little Canfield, Bernard Telsey
Ensemble Cast: Penn Badgley, Simon Baker, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Mary McDonnell, Demi Moore, Zachary Quinto, Kevin Spacey, Stanley Tucci