Awards Coverage: Indie Spirit Awards

While everyone is buzzing about tomorrow's big Oscar show, the indie world took a quiet bow this evening. Film Independent presented its annual awards to the best of the best in independently financed features live on IFC. It's generally the most funny, uncensored award show of the season (and also the least watched). Here is a list of some major winners.

Best Supporting Male: Alan Arkin, Little Miss Sunshine
Best First Screenplay: Michael Arndt, Little Miss Sunshine
Best Supporting Female: Frances McDormand, Friends with Money
Best First Feature: Sweet Land
The John Cassevetes Award (for a feature made with under $500,000): Quinceanera
Best Foreign Film: The Lives of Others
Best Female Lead: Shareeka Epps, Half Nelson
Best Cinematography: Guillermo Navarro, Pan's Labyrinth
Best Documentary: The Road to Guantanamo
Best Screenplay: Jason Reitman, Thank You for Smoking
Best Director: Jonathan Dayton & Valerie Farris, Little Miss Sunshine
Best Male Lead: Ryan Gosling, Half Nelson
Best Feature: Little Miss Sunshine

The night also included the unveiling of a new Indie Spirit Award named for the recently departed legend Robert Altman. The Robert Altman Award will be given in the future to the ensemble cast and director of a film that exhibits collaborative vision in the Altman tradition.