2016 - Awards Season: Independent Spirit Awards - Winners - Moonlight has a Serious Night

February 26, 2017

Moonlight

The Independent Spirit Awards winners were handed out last night. While they are rarely a good predictor for the Oscars, Moonlight’s performance was so dominant that its chances of winning Oscars have ticked up a couple of percentage points.

The categories and winners are...

BEST FEATURE

BEST FIRST FEATURE

BEST DIRECTOR

BEST SCREENPLAY

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD
(Given to the best feature made for under $500,000)

BEST FEMALE LEAD

BEST MALE LEAD

BEST SUPPORTING MALE

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE

BEST DOCUMENTARY

  • O.J.:Made in America
BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

BEST EDITING

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD (Given to one film's director, casting director and ensemble cast)

Also announced were the nominees for the three Filmmaker Grant Awards.

Piaget Producers Award

Acura Someone to Watch Award

Truer Than Fiction Award is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant attention.

Notes and Reactions...

  • Moonlight swept the six categories it was nominated in, including Robert Altman Award, in which the winner was announced way back when the nominees were announced. Since the film dominated awards night, there’s not a lot else to talk about.
  • The only other film to earn more than one award was The Witch, which won Best First Feature and Best First Screenplay.
  • I’m really glad that Molly Shannon won Best Supporting Actresss for Other People. Comedy tends to be underrated during Awards Season.

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Filed under: Awards Season, Manchester by the Sea, Hello, My Name is Doris, Hell or High Water, Moonlight, The Fits, Elle, Spa Night, Toni Erdmann, Hooligan Sparrow, Other People, Casey Affleck, Ben Foster, Isabelle Huppert, Molly Shannon, Nat Sanders, James Laxton, Joi McMillon, Robert Eggers, Anna Rose Holmer, Barry Jenkins, Tarell McCraney, Jordana Mollick, Nanfu Wang