Juno was the big winner at the 2008 Film Independent's Spirit Awards held in a tent on the beach in Santa Monica. The annual Spirit Awards ceremony isn't your typical glamorous Hollywood event. Instead, the Spirit Awards are a free-wheeling affair, with actors, directors, producers, writers, and other assorted celebs able to relax and have a little fun. Held the day before the Academy Awards, the Spirit Awards are the Oscars of the indie film world and help nudge sometimes overlooked films into the spotlight.
2008 Spirit Awards Nominees and Winners
Best Feature:
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
I'm Not There
A Mighty Heart
Paranoid Park
Winner: Juno
Best Director:
Todd Haynes - I'm Not There
Tamara Jenkins - The Savages
Jason Reitman - Juno
Gus Van Sant - Paranoid Park
Winner:
Julian Schnabel - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Best Screenplay:
Ron Harwood - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Fred Parnes & Andrew Wagner - Starting Out in the Evening
Adrienne Shelly - Waitress
Mike White - Year of the Dog
Winner:
Tamara Jenkins - The Savages
Best First Feature:
2 Days in Paris
Great World of Sound
Rocket Science
Vanaja
Winner: The Lookout
Best First Screenplay:
Jeffrey Blitz - Rocket Science
Zoe Cassavetes - Broken English
Kelly Masterson - Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
John Orloff - A Mighty Heart
Winner:
Diablo Cody - Juno
John Cassavetes Award: (Given to the best feature made for under $500,000)
Owl and the Sparrow
The Pool
Quiet City
Shotgun Stories
Winner:
August Evening
Best Supporting Female:
Anna Kendrick - Rocket Science
Jennifer Jason Leigh - Margot at the Wedding
Tamara Podemski- Four Sheets to the Wind
Marisa Tomei - Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
Winner:
Cate Blanchett - I'm Not There
Best Supporting Male:
Marcus Carl Franklin - I'm Not There
Kene Holliday - Great World of Sound
Irrfan Khan - The Namesake
Steve Zahn - Rescue Dawn
Winner: Chiwetel Ejiofor - Talk To Me
Best Female Lead:
Angelina Jolie - A Mighty Heart
Sienna Miller - Interview
Parker Posey - Broken English
Tang Wei - Lust, Caution
Winner:
Ellen Page - Juno
Best Male Lead:
Pedro Castaneda - August Evening
Don Cheadle - Talk To Me
Frank Langella - Starting Out in the Evening
Tony Leung - Lust, Caution
Winner:
Philip Seymour Hoffman - The Savages
Best Cinematography:
Mott Hupfel - The Savages
Milton Kam - Vanaja
Mihai Malaimare, Jr - Youth Without Youth
Rodrigo Prieto - Lust, Caution
Winner:
Janusz Kaminski - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Best Foreign Film:
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
The Band's Visit
Lady Chatterley
Persepolis
Winner: Once
Best Documentary:
Lake of Fire
Manufactured Landscapes
The Monastery
The Prisoner or: How I Planned to Kill Tony Blair
Winner:
Crazy Love
IFC/Acura Someone to Watch Award: (recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition)
Ronnie Bronstein, director of Frownland
Lee Isaac Chung, director of Munyurangabo
Winner: Ramin Bahrani, director of Chop Shop
Truer Than Fiction Award: (presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant attention)
Gary Hustwit for Helvetica
John Maringouin for Running Stumbled
Winner:
Laura Dunn for The Unforeseen
Producers Award: (honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity, and vision required to produce quality, independent films)
Anne Clements, producer of Ping Pong Playa and Quinceañera
Alexis Ferris, producer of Cthulhu and Police Beat
Winner: Neil Kopp, producer of Paranoid Park and Old Joy
Robert Altman Award: (Given to one film's director, casting director and its ensemble cast)
I'm Not There - Director: Todd Haynes, Casting Director: Laura Rosenthal
Ensemble Cast: Cate Blanchett, Christian Bale, Richard Gere, Heath Ledger, Ben Whishaw, Marcus Carl Franklin, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Bruce Greenwood
