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The Wrestler Sweeps the 2009 Independent Spirit Awards

Posted on Sunday, February 22nd, 2009 by Peter Sciretta

indie spirits 2009

The 2009 Independent Spirit Awards were held last night, celebrating the best of the best independent films that were released over the last year. I love the Indie Spirits because it gives you a great bunch of indie selections to seek out. Films that might be just out of reach for the Academy Awards like The Wackness, Medicine for Melancholy and The Signal get recognition through nominations. The big news is that Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler took home Best Picture, Best Male Lead (Mickey Rourke) and Best Cinematography (Maryse Alberti). Check out the full list of winners after the jump.

Best Feature
The Wrestler
Ballast
Frozen River
Rachel Getting Married
Wendy and Lucy

Best First Feature
Synecdoche, New York
Afterschool
Medicine for Melancholy
Sangre De Mi Sangre
Sleep Dealer

Best Director
Tom McCarthy - The Visitor
Ramin Bahrani - Chop Shop
Jonathan Demme - Rachel Getting Married
Lance Hammer - Ballast
Courtney Hunt - Frozen River

Best Male Lead
Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler
Javier Bardem - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Richard Jenkins - The Visitor
Sean Penn - Milk
Jeremy Renner - The Hurt Locker

Best Female Lead
Melissa Leo - Frozen River
Summer Bishil - Towelhead
Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married
Tarra Riggs - Ballast
Michelle Williams - Wendy and Lucy

Best Supporting Male
James Franco - Milk
Anthony Mackie - The Hurt Locker
Charlie McDermott - Frozen River
JimMyron Ross - Ballast
Haaz Sleiman - The Visitor

Best Supporting Female
Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Rosemarie DeWitt - Rachel Getting Married
Rosie Perez - The Take
Misty Upham - Frozen River
Debra Winger - Rachel Getting Married

Best Screenplay
Woody Allen - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck - Sugar
Charlie Kaufman - Synecdoche, New York
Howard A. Rodman - Savage Grace
Christopher Zalla - Sangre De Mi Sangre

Best First Screenplay
Dustin Lance Black - Milk
Lance Hammer - Ballast
Courtney Hunt - Frozen River
Jonathan Levine - The Wackness
Jenny Lumet - Rachel Getting Married

Best Cinematography
Maryse Alberti - The Wrestler
Lol Crawley - Ballast
James Laxton - Medicine for Melancholy
Harris Savides - Milk
Michael Simmonds - Chop Shop

Best Documentary
The Betrayal
Encounters at the End of the World
Man on Wire
The Order of Myths
Up the Yangtze

Best Foreign Film
The Class (France)
Gomorra (Italy)
Hunger (U.K./Ireland)
Secret of the Grain (France)
Silent Light (Mexico/France/Netherlands/Germany)

John Cassavetes Award (Best feature made for less than $500,000)
In Search of a Midnight Kiss
Prince of Broadway
The Signal
Take Out
Turn the River

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  • kim
    why wasn't Darren Aronofsky nominated for best director?
    any reason?
  • NO IDEA. I am also upset he didn't get an Oscar nom, either.
  • Yeah >:(
  • Darren looks like he makes porno movies on the side with that skeezy mustache... :P
  • I was thinkning used car salesman...
  • I was thinking used car salesman...
  • Hey, he married Rachel Weisz...aka Catwoman! (maybe)
  • jonathan levine should of won best first screenplay
  • i dunno i'm not sure he told us enough times that it was the early ninties. another five kurt cobain and Notorious BIG references would have helped.
  • glad to see Man on Wire on this list. If any of you haven't seen it yet, you really should netflix it / check it out.
  • I didn't even know it was out yet, just put it in my queue for my next rental.
  • Swept? Not quite. Plus, it's not hard to win a lot when there's only 7 films up for all of the awards.
  • Bull
    Your logic is terrible. Those 7 films were chosen over thousands of other movies.

    -1
  • Matt
    Really nice to see Tom McCarthy get some recognition for The Visitor, my favorite film all year - also the love for Synecdoche, my second favorite. I'm sure these results will be much more pleasing to me then tonight's Slumdog Suckoff.
  • Phillip
    Why is the term "sweep" so constantly misused? Sweep = winning ALL of the awards.
  • I think in this case it means all the awards it was nominated for.
  • 790
    Great show, !!!!

    Coogan did a nice impression of Batman.
  • The Wrestler completely deserves a recognition! So glad it won a lot of awards last night :-)
  • I am also pleased MELISSA LEO won, too. More people need to see FROZEN RIVER.
  • I've watched Frozen River and Melissa Leo deserves alot more than a Spirit Award. The film is a good film and I agree that more people should watch it.
  • Next Stop to Bullshitville!
  • Fuck yes. This film rules.
  • The indie Spirit Awards were hilarious as usual this year. (I missed Raine Wilson and the audition skits, though!) Great stuff, great films, well-deserved people being recognized all-around. Can't wait to see Rourke at the Oscars on a delay tonight, ha.
  • Kokushi
    Frozen River was very good and Leo deserved the win and yes people need to see it.
  • I agree with you Peter! Award shows like these brings indie films to audiences...so we can seek and find them
  • thank god synecdoche got the first feature award
  • great! thanks god!
  • Seth
    Why is Howard Hughes accepting the award for the Wrestler?
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