The Film Independent Spirit Awards, held in a beachside tent Saturday during unusually cold Santa Monica weather, were dominated by Black Swan wins. And for all the travails the nominated filmmakers might have experienced on the path here (lack of funding, last-minute casting, no trailers to protect Nicole Kidman from the paparazzi, as Rabbit Hole director John Cameron Mitchell told us), these troubles seemed overshadowed by the day’s frigid wind. When asked how it felt to win the Best Director award, Black Swan’s Darren Aronofsky said, “F’in cold.†The weather got lots of mentions during the telecast, hosted by Joel McHale, and even more attention as the shivering winners made their way to the billowy press tent. It was so cold that Natalie Portman was seen sporting not one, but two jackets over her knee-length, summer-y dress during the show. “I’m from New York, so I was expecting to come here like, ‘It’s bikini time,’†said Lena Dunham, a winner for Best First Screenplay for Tiny Furniture. “It’s not bikini time.â€
Here are the main winners:
Best Feature
Black Swan
Best Director
Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
Best Female Lead
Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Best Male Lead
James Franco, 127 Hours
Best Supporting Female
Dale Dickey, Winter’s Bone
Best Supporting Male
John Hawkes, Winter’s Bone
Best Cinematography
Matthew Libatique, Black Swan
Best Foreign Film
The King’s Speech
Best Documentary
Exit Through The Gift Shop
Best Screenplay
Stuart Blumberg & Lisa Cholodenko, The Kids Are All Right
Best First Feature
Aaron Schneider, Get Low
Best First Screenplay
Lena Dunham, Tiny Furniture
John Cassavetes Award (For the best feature made under $500,000)
Daddy Longlegs