Moonlight Is The Big Winner At The Independent Spirit Awards 2017

Moonlight

by James White |
Published on
Barry Jenkins at the 2017 Independent Spirit Awards

Held, as ever, the day before the Oscars, Film Independent's Spirit Awards event was a chance for films not named La La Land to pick up more awards. The big winner of the event was director Barry Jenkins and Moonlight, which earned six trophies, and Robert Eggers' The Witch, taking home two.

In the typical tent on the beach in Santa Monica and with a ceremony that was marked with the expected political commentary (you can see the opening monologue here{ =nofollow}), awards went to such films as OJ: Made In America, Spa Night and Toni Erdmann.

Acting-wise, Manchester By The Sea's Casey Affleck picked up another trophy, while Isabelle Huppert was once more recognised for her work in Elle. The supporting gongs went to Molly Shannon for Other People and Ben Foster for Hell Or High Water.

You can find the full list of winners below.

BEST FEATURE

Winner: Moonlight

American Honey

Chronic

Jackie

Manchester By The Sea

BEST FIRST FEATURE

Winner: The Witch

The Childhood Of A Leader

The Fits

Other People

Swiss Army Man

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD (Best feature made for under 5,000)

Winner: Spa Night

Free In Deed

Hunter Gatherer

Lovesong

Nakom

BEST DIRECTOR

Winner: Barry Jenkins, Moonlight

Andrea Arnold, American Honey

Pablo Larrain, Jackie

Jeff Nichols, Loving

Kelly Reichardt, Certain Women

BEST SCREENPLAY

Winner: Barry Jenkins, story by Tarell Alvin McCraney, Moonlight

Kenneth Lonergan, Manchester By The Sea

Mike Mills, 20th Century Women

Ira Sachs and Mauricio Zacharias, Little Men

Taylor Sheridan, Hell Or High Water

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY

Winner: Robert Eggers, The Witch

Chris Kelly, Other People

Adam Mansbach, Barry

Stella Meghie, Jean Of The Joneses

Craig Shilowich, Christine

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Winner: James Laxton, Moonlight

Ava Berkofsky, Free In Deed

Lol Crawley, The Childhood Of A Leader

Zach Kuperstein, The Eyes Of My Mother

Robbie Ryan, American Honey

BEST EDITING

Winner: Joi McMillon and Nat Sanders, Moonlight

Matthew Hannam, Swiss Army Man

Jennifer Lame, Manchester By The Sea

Jake Roberts, Hell Or High Water

Sebastián Sepúlveda, Jackie

BEST FEMALE LEAD

Winner: Isabelle Huppert, Elle

Annette Bening, 20th Century Women

Ruth Negga, Loving

Natalie Portman, Jackie

BEST MALE LEAD

Winner: Casey Affleck, Manchester By The Sea

David Harewood, Free In Deed

Viggo Mortensen, Captain Fantastic

Jesse Plemons, Other People

Tim Roth, Chronic

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE

Winner: Molly Shannon, Other People

Edwina Findley, Free In Deed

Paulina Garcia, Little Men

Lily Gladstone, Certain Women

Riley Keough, American Honey

BEST SUPPORTING MALE

Winner: Ben Foster, Hell Or High Water

Ralph Fiennes, A Bigger Splash

Lucas Hedges, Manchester By The Sea

Shia LaBeouf, American Honey

Craig Robinson, Morris From America

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD

Moonlight

BEST DOCUMENTARY

Winner: OJ: Made In America

13th

Cameraperson

I Am Not Your Negro

Sonita

Under The Sun

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM

Winner: Toni Erdmann

Aquarius

Chevalier

My Golden Days

Under The Shadow

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