Independent Spirit Award Winners

Enough about the "Crash" upset at the Oscars already! Here's who won the "indie" (not "Indiewood") Independent Spirit Awards on Saturday:

John Cassavetes Award (for best feature made for under $500K)
* Conventioneers, directed by Mora Stephens and produced by Joel Viertel
>> I can't recall them ever showing this award in the rebroadcast before this year, but Mora and Joel got to go up on stage and accept their award in front of viewers at home. My favorite line in Mora's speech: "Making independent films is pretty f*ckin' hard."

The emerging filmmaker awards with $25K grants attached to each were unfortunately not shown in the AMC rebroacast, so here are the winners:

Someone to Watch Award
* Ian Gamazon and Neill Dela Llana, director of Cavite
>> Prior to winning this award, these guys won a few film fest awards including the Golden Maile award for best feature film at the Hawaii Int'l Film Fest.

Truer Than Fiction Award
* Garrett Scott & Ian Olds for Occupation: Dreamland
>> Winning was bittersweet for co-director Ian Olds, whose directing partner Garrett Scott died suddenly of a heart attack at the age of 37 on March 2, just two days before they won this award.

Producers Award
* Caroline Baron, producer of Capote and Monsoon Wedding
>> Baron followed up 2001's Indian wedding romance dramedy Monsoon Wedding directed by Mira Nair with critically acclaimed biopic Capote.

>> "Brokeback," "Capote," "Crash," "Transamerica" Honored With Spirit Awards [IndieWIRE, 3/4/06]

RELATED POSTS:
>> Don't Forget the Independent Spirit Awards
>> LVHIFF Report: Politics, Identity and Otherwise
>> LVHIFF Report: Film Good, Video Bad
>> The Meaning of "Independent"
>> U.S. Indies at LVHIFF