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2008 Independent Spirit Award Winners
(released
2/25/2008)
By greenroomwire
Film Independent held their 2008 Independent Spirit Awards out in Santa Monica on Saturday, February 23rd. The awards honor the best in independent films.
This year's major category winners are:
Best Feature
Juno
Best Director
Julian Schnabel - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Best Screenplay
Tamara Jenkins - The Savages
Best First Feature
The Lookout
Best First Screenplay
Diablo Cody - Juno
John Cassavetes Award (best feature under $500,000)
August Evening
Best Supporting Female
Cate Blanchett - I'm Not There
Best Supporting Male
Chiwetel Ejiofor - Talk To Me
Best Female Lead
Ellen Page - Juno
Best Male Lead
Philip Seymour Hoffman - The Savages
Best Cinematography
Janusz Kaminski - The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Best Foreign Film
Once
Best Documentary
Crazy Love
In addition to the usual awards, there were three sponsored awards and a new category introduced this year named after the late writer/director/producer Robert Altman.
Neill Kopp, producer of Paranoid Park and Old Joy, received the eleventh annual Piaget Producers Award, which honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity, and vision required to produce quality, independent films. The winner of the Producers Award receives an unrestricted grant of $25,000 funded by Piaget.
Ramin Bahrani, director of Chop Shop, won the fourteenth annual Acura Someone To Watch Award, a $25,000 unrestricted grant created to honor a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition. The award is funded by Acura.
Laura Dunn, director of The Unforeseen, won the twelfth annual IFC Truer Than Fiction Award, presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant attention. The award is accompanied by a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by IFC.
Also given was the first-ever Robert Altman Award, given to one film's director, casting director, and ensemble cast. Todd Haynes' I'm Not There received this inaugural award, along with casting director Laura Rosenthal, and ensemble cast members Christian Bale, Cate Blanchett, David Cross, Marcus Carl Franklin, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Richard Gere, Bruce Greenwood, Heath Ledger, Julianne Moore, Ben Whishaw, and Michelle Williams.
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