Alerts & Newsletters

By providing your information, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy. We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

‘Birdman’ Wins Best Feature at 2015 Spirit Awards

'Birdman' Wins Best Feature at 2015 Spirit Awards

By Nigel M. Smith

Nigel M. Smith

More stories by Nigel M.

‘Whiplash’ Breakout Miles Teller Has Officially Arrived – Awards Season Flashback

‘Desierto’ Producer Alfonso Cuaron on His Bold Space Experiment ‘Gravity’ – Awards Season Flashback

Steve Carell Redefined His Career By Surprising Everyone in ‘Foxcatcher’

February 21, 2015 4:11 pm

Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s “Birdman” came out on top as the big winner at the 30th Film Independent Spirit Awards this afternoon in Santa Monica, beating out Richard Linklater’s “Boyhood,” which walked away with Best Director and Best Supporting Actress. “Birdman” star Michael Keaton also picked up Best Actor at the awards ceremony. Below find the full list of winners.

BEST FEATURE

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Producers: Alejandro G. Iñárritu, John Lesher, Arnon Milchan, James W. Skotchdopole

BEST DIRECTOR

Richard Linklater
Boyhood

BEST SCREENPLAY

Dan Gilroy
Nightcrawler

BEST FIRST FEATURE (Award given to the director and producer)

Nightcrawler

Director: Dan Gilroy

Producers: Jennifer Fox, Tony Gilroy, Jake Gyllenhaal, David Lancaster, Michel Litvak

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY

Justin Simien

Dear White People
“I’m going to put the award next to my bed in my tiny apartment. This is nuts!”

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD – Given to the best feature made for under $500,000. Award given to the writer, director and producer. Executive Producers are not awarded.

Land Ho!
Writers/Directors: Aaron Katz & Martha Stephens
Producers: Christina Jennings, Mynette Louie, Sara Murphy

BEST FEMALE LEAD

Julianne Moore
Still Alice
“I didn’t expect to be so emotional — I’ve been making independent films for 25 years now. We made this film in 23 days…I brought my own bras and bought my own food.”

BEST MALE LEAD

Michael Keaton
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
“This awards season is unbelievable. I think we would all be remiss if we didn’t thank Narcissus right now. He doesn’t get enough of a shout out. This has really been fun, honestly, to tell the truth.”

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE

Patricia Arquette

Boyhood
“I’ve made a lot of independent films but I’ve never been invited to this party before… I want to stop for a second and say there should be an award at this ceremony for distributors. If you don’t have a good distributor pushing your movie, you will never be seen.”

BEST SUPPORTING MALE

J.K. Simmons
Whiplash
“One thing I have not done previously is point out how honored I am to be mentioned with these other actors. I actually got to see all your films this year, which I don’t often do. Everybody who hasn’t seen the movie, it’s still out there.”

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Emmanuel Lubezki
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

BEST EDITING

Tom Cross
Whiplash

BEST DOCUMENTARY (Award given to the director and producer)

CITIZENFOUR
Director/Producer: Laura Poitras
Producers: Mathilde Bonnefoy, Dirk Wilutzky
Laura Poitras: “Our governments are not telling us what is happening so it’s a dire situation.”

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM (Award given to the director)

Ida (Poland)
Director: Pawel Pawlikowski
“Miracles happen, thank you very much.”

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD – (Given to one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast)

Inherent Vice

Director: Paul Thomas Anderson

Casting Director: Cassandra Kulukundis

Ensemble Cast: Josh Brolin, Martin Donovan, Jena Malone, Joanna Newsom, Joaquin Phoenix, Eric Roberts, Maya Rudolph, Martin Short Serena Scott Thomas, Benicio Del Toro, Katherine Waterston, Michael Kenneth Williams, Owen Wilson, Reese Witherspoon
Paul Thomas Anderson: “Don’t fly American Airlines. They will fucking lose your luggage.”

SPECIAL DISTINCTION AWARD

Foxcatcher

Director/Producer: Bennett Miller

Producers: Anthony Bregman, Megan Ellison, Jon Kilik

Writers: E. Max Frye, Dan Futterman

Actors: Steve Carell, Mark Ruffalo, Channing Tatum

18th ANNUAL PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD – The 18th annual Producers Award, sponsored by Piaget, honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce quality, independent films. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Piaget.

Chad Burris

Elisabeth Holm

Chris Ohlson

21st ANNUAL KIEHL’S SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD – The 21st annual Someone to Watch Award, sponsored by Kiehl’s Since 1851, recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by Kiehl’s Since 1851.

H.
Directors: Rania Attieh & Daniel Garcia

20th ANNUAL LENSCRAFTERS TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD – The 20th annual Truer Than Fiction Award, sponsored by LensCrafters is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition. The award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant funded by LensCrafters.

The Kill Team
Director: Dan Krauss