Independent Spirit Award Winners

I watched the ceremony on IFC, and I must say...it seemed a bit awkward and mundane this time. I really enjoyed the tribute to Robert Altman set to the rendition of "Sweet By and By" from A Prairie Home Companion. And the David Lynch/Laura Dern tribute was appropriately surreal. But the ceremony as a whole seemed, well, toothless. I was glad to see Sweet Land and Quinceañera take home awards though, they're two of my unsung joys of 2006.

Here are the winners:


BEST FEATURE
Little Miss Sunshine
Producers: Marc Turtletaub, David T. Friendly, Peter Saraf, Albert Berger, Ron Yerxa

BEST DIRECTOR
Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Faris
Little Miss Sunshine

BEST FIRST FEATURE
Sweet Land
Director: Ali Selim
Producers: Alan Cumming, James Bigham, Ali Selim

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD
Quinceañera
Writer/Directors: Richard Glatzer & Wash Westmoreland
Producer: Anne Clements

BEST SCREENPLAY
Jason Reitman
Thank You For Smoking

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Michael Arndt
Little Miss Sunshine

BEST FEMALE LEAD
Shareeka Epps
Half Nelson

BEST MALE LEAD
Ryan Gosling
Half Nelson

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
Frances McDormand
Friends with Money

BEST SUPPORTING MALE
Alan Arkin
Little Miss Sunshine

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Guillermo Navarro
Pan's Labyrinth

BEST DOCUMENTARY
The Road to Guantanamo
Directors: Michael Winterbottom & Mat Whitecross

BEST FOREIGN FILM
The Lives of Others (Germany)
Director: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck

SPECIAL AWARDS - IFC/Acura Someone to Watch Award
Julia Loktev director of Day Night Day Night

SPECIAL AWARDS - Axium Truer Than Fiction Award
Adele Horn
The Tailenders

SPECIAL AWARDS - Axium Producers Award
Howard Gertler and Tim Perell producers of Shortbus and Pizza

SPECIAL DISTINCTION AWARD
David Lynch and Laura Dern

To view the nominees, click here.