"Spotlight" and Cary Fukunaga's "Beasts of no Nation" Owned the Spirit Awards

Mar 02, 2016, 10:24

Wanda Sykes and Jane Lynch make a toast in a spoof that aired at the 2016 Film Independent Spirit Awards on Saturday afternoon (February 27) in Santa Monica, Calif.

The film about journalists investigating child sex abuse in the catholic church finished out the night by picking up the statuette for Best Picture.

The spotlight on diversity at the Spirit Awards comes amid a furor in Hollywood over the 20 all-white acting nominees for this year's Oscars, fueling the #OscarsSoWhite debate.

"The Revenant" was a big victor for studio 20th Century Fox FOXA, +0.24% FOX, +0.48% with Alejandro G. Iñárritu snatching his second best director award and Leonardo DiCarprio finally winning for best actor.

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Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., the ranking Democrat on the committee also attended the meeting and posed for photos with smiles frozen to their faces.

Two of the night's biggest awards went to Black actors-Beasts of No Nation stars Idris Elba and Abraham Attah.

Brie Larson, star of Room, was the only white actor to win on Saturday under the big tent on the Santa Monica beach. Hungary scored its second best foreign language Oscar for Laszlo Nemes' "Son of Saul", a harrowing drama set within a concentration camp. "You better get out there and put them in your movie".

McCarthy told reporters on the arrivals red carpet he hadn't felt any nerves ahead of the Spirit Awards - but would be "a wreck" at the Oscars.

And Nate Parker, the director behind Sundance race-themed phenom "Birth of a Nation", presented the award for first feature, garnering a highly enthusiastic response from the room.

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"Us Mad Maxes are doing OK tonight", said editor Margaret Sixel, who's also Miller's wife.

Winning the award for his 1st performance ever, the actor thanked his co-star Idris Elba, director of the film, Cary Fukunaga, and costume designers while receiving his award.

Here's a look at the best, and worst, moments from the Film Independent Spirit Awards.

Nevertheless, the under-representation of people of color in the film and TV industry has muted the congratulatory tone of awards season and prompted pledges to bring more women and minorities into the industry and the Academy. "I call dibs", Heller said of her actress. "It was incredible, it was like a homecoming for me", he said. The best first feature honour went to "The Diary of a Teenage Girl", while Emma Donoghue bagged the best first screenplay for " Room".

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"The Spirit Awards honor the films you've been meaning to see", Nanjiani said. At least we won't have to wait much longer to find out if Rachel McAdams will score her first Oscar.