Hardly a surprise to anyone, The Artist dominated the 2012 Independent Spirit Awards, winning for Best Feature, Director (Michel Hazanavicius), Actor (Jean Dujardin) and Cinematography (Guillaume Schiffman).
There were some complaints in the Twitter-verse as Penelope Anne Miller accepted the awards for The Artist up until Hazanavicius and the rest of The Artist team arrived five minutes before Hazanavicious was named Best Director. The reason? They’d just landed at LAX after flying in from France where The Artist won six awards at the Cesar Awards, France’s equivalent of the Oscars, last night. A police escort managed to get them to the Spirits just in time for their third win of the night… also in time to take the stage to accept Best Feature Film.
The Artist went into the Spirits with Take Shelter as the leading nominees with both receiving five nominations each. Take Shelter, however, only ended up going home with one win with Sophia Lin winning the Piaget Producers Award. It’s a point that surprises me in fact. Of all the awards handed out this season I would have thought the Spirits would be one place where Dujardin wouldn’t have won. Looking at the nominees, it’s a surprise Michael Shannon (Take Shelter) didn’t take this one home.
The Spirit wins for The Artist would seem to be just one more sign the black-and-white silent has things all locked up heading into tomorrow night’s Oscars. The Spirit Awards also honored likely Oscar winners such as Christopher Plummer (Beginners) for Supporting Actor, The Descendants for Best Screenplay and A Separation for Best International Film.
While the race for the Oscar is presumed to be between Meryl Streep (The Iron Lady) and Viola Davis (The Help), neither were eligible to win here as Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn) took home Best Actress. Anyone think she has a chance to upset at the Oscars?
It’s also worth mentioning that I’m happy to see Pariah honored with the John Cassavetes Award, which is given to the best feature made for under $500,000. That is a film you’re likely not going to see until it hits DVD on April 24, but once you can please do so. It deserves your attention and you can get more on its upcoming home video release right here.
Best Documentary went to non-Oscar nominee The Interrupters and another non-nominee in Shailene Woodley (The Descendants won for Best Supporting Actress.
Finally, Margin Call earned some well-deserved notoriety for writer/director J.C. Chandor and his cast as the film won the Robert Altman Award and Chandor won for Best First Feature.
I’ve included the full list of winners and nominees directly below with the winners highlighted in bold and red
BEST FEATURE (Award given to the Producer)
- 50/50
- Beginners
- Drive
- Take Shelter
- The Artist
- The Descendants
BEST DIRECTOR
- Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist)
- Mike Mills (Beginners)
- Jeff Nichols (Take Shelter)
- Alexander Payne (The Descendants)
- Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive)
BEST SCREENPLAY
- Joseph Cedar (Footnote)
- Michel Hazanavicius (The Artist)
- Tom McCarthy (Win Win)
- Mike Mills (Beginners)
- Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash (The Descendants)
BEST FIRST FEATURE (Award given to the director and producer)
- Another Earth
- In the Family
- Margin Call
- Martha Marcy May Marlene
- Natural Selection
BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
- Mike Cahill, Brit Marling (Another Earth)
- J.C. Chandor (Margin Call)
- Patrick deWitt (Terri)
- Phil Johnston (Cedar Rapids)
- Will Reiser (50/50)
JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD – Given to the best feature made for under $500,000. Award given to the writer, director, and producer.
- Bellflower
- Circumstance
- Hello Lonesome
- Pariah
- The Dynamiter
BEST MALE LEAD
- Demian Bichir (A Better Life)
- Jean Dujardin (The Artist)
- Ryan Gosling (Drive)
- Woody Harrelson (Rampart)
- Michael Shannon (Take Shelter)
BEST FEMALE LEAD
- Lauren Ambrose (Think of Me)
- Rachael Harris (Natural Selection)
- Adepero Oduye (Pariah)
- Elizabeth Olsen (Martha Marcy May Marlene)
- Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn)
BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
- Jessica Chastain (Take Shelter)
- Anjelica Huston (50/50)
- Janet McTeer (Albert Nobbs)
- Harmony Santana (Gun Hill Road)
- Shailene Woodley (The Descendants)
BEST SUPPORTING MALE
- Albert Brooks (Drive)
- John Hawkes (Martha Marcy May Marlene)
- Christopher Plummer (Beginners)
- John C. Reilly (Cedar Rapids)
- Corey Stoll (Midnight in Paris)
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
- Joel Hodge (Bellflower)
- Benjamin Kasulke (The Off Hours)
- Darius Khondji (Midnight in Paris)
- Guillaume Schiffman (The Artist)
- Jeffrey Waldron (The Dynamiter)
BEST DOCUMENTARY (Award given to the director and producer)
- An African Election
- Bill Cunningham
- The Interrupters
- The Redemption of General Butt Naked
- We Were Here
BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM (Award given to the director)
- A Separation (Iran)
- Melancholia (Denmark/Sweden/France/Germany)
- Shame (UK)
- The Kid With a Bike (Belgium/France/Italy)
- Tyrannosaur (UK)
PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD – The 15th annual Piaget Producers Award honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources demonstrate the creativity, tenacity, and vision required to produce quality, independent films. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Piaget.
- Chad Burris (Mosquita y Mari)
- Sophia Lin (Take Shelter)
- Josh Mond (Martha Marcy May Marlene)
SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD – The 18th annual Someone to Watch Award recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant.
- Simon Arthur (Silver Tongues)
- Mark Jackson (Without)
- Nicholas Ozeki (Mamitas)
TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD – The 17th annual Truer Than Fiction Award is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant.
- Heather Courtney (Where Soldiers Come From)
- Danfung Dennis (Hell and Back Again)
- Alma Har’el (Bombay Beach)
ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD – (Given to one film’s director, casting director, and its ensemble cast)
- 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
