2016 Independent Spirit Award Winners
Hosts Kate McKinnon (Saturday Night Live) and Kumail Nanjiani (Portlandia, Silicon Valley) began their opening monologue with some awkward moments, but the duo quickly warmed up and landed some pretty good zingers, like making up a new category for Worst Editing; poking fun of the title of A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence.
The Spirit Awards began with a nice surprise with its first winner, revealing (a very deserving) Idris Elba winning for Best Supporting Male (beating out Paul Dano and others) in Beasts of No Nation. Which is interesting considering how much time the hosts spent discussing Elba in their opening bit, given him more attention than most other acting nominees. Following that coincidence was another, the second award of the night was given to Emma Donoghue for Best First Screenplay for her work in Room, which just happen to be presented by the adorable co-star of that film, Jacob Tremblay.
The big winner of this year’s Spirit Awards was Spotlight, winning four categories (Best Feature, Best Director, Best Screenplay, the Robert Altman Award). Other significant winners were Beasts of No Nation for winning two acting awards (Best Male and Supporting Male), Carol earning Best Cinematography, and Mya Taylor (Tangerine) becoming the first transgender talent to win a Spirit Award.
See the full list of Spirit Award winners down below.
2016 Independent Spirit Award Winners
(Winners are highlighted in red bolded font)
Best Feature:
Anomalisa
Beasts of No Nation
Carol
Spotlight
Tangerine
Best Director:
Sean Baker – Tangerine
Cary Joji Fukunaga – Beasts of No Nation
Todd Haynes – Carol
Charlie Kaufman & Duke Johnson – Anomalisa
Tom McCarthy – Spotlight
David Robert Mitchell – It Follows
Best Male Lead:
Christopher Abbott – James White
Abraham Attah – Beasts of No Nation
Ben Mendelsohn – Mississippi Grind
Jason Segel – The End of the Tour
Koudous Seihon – Mediterranea
Best Female Lead:
Cate Blanchett – Carol
Brie Larson – Room
Rooney Mara – Carol
Bel Powley – The Diary of a Teenage Girl
Kitana Kiki Rodriguez- Tangerine
Best Supporting Male:
Kevin Corrigan – Results
Paul Dano – Love & Mercy
Idris Elba – Beasts of No Nation
Richard Jenkins – Bone Tomahawk
Michael Shannon – 99 Homes
Best Supporting Female:
Robin Bartlett – H.
Marin Ireland – Glass Chin
Jennifer Jason Leigh – Anomalisa
Cynthia Nixon – James White
Mya Taylor – Tangerine
Best Screenplay:
Charlie Kaufman – Anomalisa
Donald Margulies – The End of the Tour
Phyllis Nagy – Carol
Tom McCarthy & Josh Singer – Spotlight
S. Craig Zahler – Bone Tomahawk
Best First Feature:
The Diary of a Teenage Girl
James White
Manos Sucia
Mediterranea
Songs My Brothers Taught Me
Best First Screenplay:
Jesse Andrews – Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
Jonas Carpignano – Mediterranea
Emma Donoghue – Room
Marielle Heller – The Diary of a Teenage Girl
John Magary, Russell Harbaugh, Myna Josep – The Mend
Best Cinematography:
Cary Joji Fukunaga – Beasts of No Nation
Ed Lachman – Carol
Joshua James Richards – Songs My Brothers Taught Me
Michael Gioulakis – It Follows
Reed Morano – Meadowland
Best International Film: (Award given to the director)
Embrace of the Serpent
Girlhood
Mustang
A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence
Son of Saul
Best Documentary:
Best of Enemies
Heart of a Dog
The Look of Silence
Meru
The Russian Woodpecker
(T)ERROR
Best Editing:
Beasts of No Nation
Heaven Knows What
It Follows
Room
Spotlight
John Cassavetes Award: (Given to the best feature made for under $500,000)
Advantageous
Christmas, Again
Heaven Knows What
Krisha
Out of My Hand