2014 - Awards Season: Slave Top Winners at Spirit Awards

March 2, 2014

Independent Spirit Award handed out the hardware last night and the big winner was 12 Years a Slave, which picked up five of the seven awards it was nominated for.

The categories and winners are...

BEST FEATURE

• 12 Years a Slave

BEST DIRECTOR

• Steve McQueen for 12 Years a Slave

BEST SCREENPLAY

• John Ridley for 12 Years a Slave

BEST FIRST FEATURE

• Ryan Coogler for Fruitvale Station

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY

• Bob Nelson for Nebraska

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD
(Given to the best feature made for under $500,000)

• Chad Hartigan for This Is Martin Bonner

BEST FEMALE LEAD

• Cate Blanchett in Blue Jasmine

BEST MALE LEAD

• Matthew McConaughey in Dallas Buyers Club

BEST SUPPORTING MALE

• Jared Leto in Dallas Buyers Club

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE

• Lupita Nyong'o in 12 Years a Slave

BEST DOCUMENTARY

• 20 Feet from Stardom

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM

• Blue is the Warmest Color (France)

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

• Sean Bobbitt for 12 Years a Slave

BEST EDITING

• Nat Sanders for Short Term 12

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

• Mud

Also announced were the nominees for the three Filmmaker Grant Awards.

Piaget Producers Award

• Toby Halbrooks & James M. Johnston

Someone to Watch Award

• Shaka King for Newlyweeds

Stella Artois Truer Than Fiction Award is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant attention.

• Jason Osder for Let the Fire Burn

Notes and Reactions...

• Like with the nominations, there were few surprises here, so there's not a lot to react to.
• 12 Years a Slave led the way with five wins, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Screenwriter. There's no argument it was the big winner last night.
• Matthew McConaughey won for Dallas Buyers Club, one of the film's two awards. This isn't surprising, but I really wanted Chiwetel Ejiofor to win, or perhaps even Bruce Dern, although admittedly, Bruce Dern was a massive long shot.
• Nebraska was almost shut out with just one win, Bob Nelson for Best First Screenplay, out of six awards it was nominated for.
• 20 Feet from Stardom topped The Act of Killing for Best Documentary, which is a bit of a surprise, at least in my opinion.
• Blue is the Warmest Color won for Best International Film over the favorite, The Great Beauty.
• I wanted Haifaa Al-Mansour to win Best First Feature for Wadjda, especially considering how historically important that film was. (It is the first feature-length film made entirely in Saudi Arabia, the first Saudi film directed by a woman, and it pushes a message of about equal rights for women.) That said, Ryan Coogler winning for Fruitvale Station is not an upset.

- C.S.Strowbridge

Filed under: Awards Season, Dallas Buyers Club, Newlyweds, Mud, 20 Feet From Stardom, Blue Jasmine, Wadjda, Fruitvale Station, 12 Years a Slave, Nebraska, The Act of Killing, This Is Martin Bonner, Short Term 12, La Vie d'Adèle – Chapitres 1 & 2, Newlyweeds, Let the Fire Burn, La grande bellezza, Cate Blanchett, Bruce Dern, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Jared Leto, Matthew McConaughey, Steve Rodney McQueen, Sean Bobbitt, John Ridley, Nat Sanders, Lupita Nyong'o, Chad Hartigan, Shaka King, Jason Osder, Haifaa Al-Mansour, Ryan Coogler, James M. Johnston, Bob Nelson