2016 - Awards Season: Independent Spirit Awards - Winners - Moonlight has a Serious Night - The Numbers

February 26, 2017

The Independent Spirit Awards winners were handed out last night. While they are rarely a good predictor for the Oscars, Moonlight’s performance was so dominant that its chances of winning Oscars have ticked up a couple of percentage points.

The categories and winners are...

BEST FEATURE

• Moonlight

BEST FIRST FEATURE

• The Witch

BEST DIRECTOR

• Berry Jenkins for Moonlight

BEST SCREENPLAY

• Berry Jenkins and Tarell McCraney for Moonlight

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY

• Robert Eggers for The Witch

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD
(Given to the best feature made for under $500,000)

• Spa Night

BEST FEMALE LEAD

• Isabelle Huppert in Elle

BEST MALE LEAD

• Casey Affleck for Manchester by the Sea

BEST SUPPORTING MALE

• Ben Foster in Hell or High Water

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE

• Molly Shannon in Other People

BEST DOCUMENTARY

• O.J.:Made in America

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM

• Toni Erdmann (Germany/Romania)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

• James Laxton for Moonlight

BEST EDITING

• Joi McMillon and Nat Sanders for Moonlight

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD (Given to one film's director, casting director and ensemble cast)

• Moonlight

Also announced were the nominees for the three Filmmaker Grant Awards.

Piaget Producers Award

• Jordana Mollick for Hello, My Name Is Doris

Acura Someone to Watch Award

• Anna Rose Holmer for The Fits

Truer Than Fiction Award is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant attention.

• Nanfu Wang for Hooligan Sparrow

Notes and Reactions...

• Moonlight swept the six categories it was nominated in, including Robert Altman Award, in which the winner was announced way back when the nominees were announced. Since the film dominated awards night, there’s not a lot else to talk about.
• The only other film to earn more than one award was The Witch, which won Best First Feature and Best First Screenplay.
• I’m really glad that Molly Shannon won Best Supporting Actresss for Other People. Comedy tends to be underrated during Awards Season.

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Filed under: Awards Season, Manchester by the Sea, Hello, My Name is Doris, Hell or High Water, Moonlight, The Fits, Elle, Spa Night, Toni Erdmann, Hooligan Sparrow, Other People, Casey Affleck, Ben Foster, Isabelle Huppert, Molly Shannon, Nat Sanders, James Laxton, Joi McMillon, Robert Eggers, Anna Rose Holmer, Barry Jenkins, Tarell McCraney, Jordana Mollick, Nanfu Wang