24th Independent Spirit Awards Coverage (2009)

The 24th Independent Spirit Awards, hosted by Steve Coogan, were presented on February 21st, 2009. Here are the nominees and winners.

Best Feature

• Winner - The Wrestler - Darren Aronofsky; Scott Franklin
• Ballast - Lance Hammer; Nina Parikh
• Frozen River - Chip Hourihan; Heather Rae
• Rachel Getting Married - Neda Armian; Jonathan Demme; Marc Platt
• Wendy and Lucy - Larry Fessenden; Neil Kopp; Anish Savjani

Best Director

• Winner - The Visitor - Thomas McCarthy
• Ballast - Lance Hammer
• Chop Shop - Ramin Bahrani
• Frozen River - Courtney Hunt
• Rachel Getting Married - Jonathan Demme

Best Screenplay

• Winner - Vicky Cristina Barcelona - Woody Allen
• Padre Nuestro - Christopher Zalla
• Savage Grace - Howard A. Rodman
• Sugar - Anna Boden; Ryan Fleck
• Synecdoche, New York - Charlie Kaufman

Best First Feature

• Winner - Synecdoche, New York - Charlie Kaufman (director/producer); Anthony Bregman (producer); Spike Jonze (producer); Sidney Kimmel (producer)
• Afterschool - Antonio Campos (director); T. Sean Durkin (producer); Josh Mond (producer)
• Medicine for Melancholy - Barry Jenkins (director); Justin Barber (producer)
• Padre Nuestro - Christopher Zalla (director); Per Melita (producer); Ben Odell (producer)
• Sleep Dealer - Alex Rivera (director); Anthony Bregman (producer)

Best First Screenplay

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

Best Cinematography

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

Best Documentary

• Winner - Man on Wire - James Marsh
• Encounters at the End of the World - Werner Herzog
• The Betrayal - Nerakhoon - Ellen Kuras; Thavisouk Phrasavath
• The Order of Myths - Margaret Brown
• Up the Yangtze - Yung Chang

Best Foreign Film

• Winner - Entre les murs - Laurent Cantet - France.
• Gomorra - Matteo Garrone - Italy.
• Hunger - Steve McQueen - England/Ireland.
• La graine et le mulet - Abdel Kechiche - France.
• Stellet licht - Carlos Reygadas - Mexico/France/Netherlands/Germany.

Best Male Lead

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

Best Female Lead

• Winner - Frozen River - Melissa Leo
• Ballast - Tarra Riggs
• Nothing Is Private - Summer Bishil
• Rachel Getting Married - Anne Hathaway
• Wendy and Lucy - Michelle Williams

Best Supporting Male

• Winner - Milk - James Franco
• Ballast - JimMyron Ross
• Frozen River - Charlie McDermott
• The Hurt Locker - Anthony Mackie
• The Visitor - Haaz Sleiman

Best Supporting Female

• Winner - Vicky Cristina Barcelona - Penélope Cruz
• Frozen River - Misty Upham
• Rachel Getting Married - Rosemarie DeWitt
• Rachel Getting Married - Debra Winger
• The Take - Rosie Perez

John Cassavetes Award

• Winner - In Search of a Midnight Kiss - Alex Holdridge (writer/director); Seth Caplan (producer); Scoot McNairy (producer)
• Prince of Broadway - Sean Baker (writer/director); Darren Dean (writer/producer)
• Take Out (2004) - Sean Baker (writer/director/producer); Shih-Ching Tsou (writer/director/producer)
• The Signal - David Bruckner (writer/director); Dan Bush (writer/director); Jacob Gentry (writer/director/producer); Alexander Motlagh (producer)
• Turn the River - Chris Eigeman (writer/director); Ami Armstrong (producer)

Robert Altman Award

• Winner - Synecdoche, New York - Charlie Kaufman (director); Jeanne McCarthy (casting director); Hope Davis ; Philip Seymour Hoffman; Jennifer Jason Leigh; Catherine Keener; Samantha Morton; Tom Noonan; Emily Watson ; Dianne Wiest; Michelle Williams

Truer Than Fiction Award

• Winner - The Order of Myths - Margaret Brown
• Anvil! The Story of Anvil - Sacha Gervasi
• Loot - Darius Marder

Producers Award

• Winner - Frozen River - Heather Rae - Also for Ibid .
• Goodbye Solo - Jason Orans - Also for Year of the Fish
• Treeless Mountain - Lars Knudsen ; Jay Van Hoy - Also for I'll Come Running

Someone to Watch Award

• Winner - My Effortless Brilliance - Lynn Shelton
• Medicine for Melancholy - Barry Jenkins
• Sita Sings the Blues - Nina Paley