Uncut Gems and The Farewell win at Independent Spirit Awards
James R | On 09, Feb 2020
Uncut Gems and The Farewell were the big winners at the 2020 Independent Spirit Awards.
The Safdie brothers’ thriller, starring Adam Sandler, ran away with three prizes at the awards ceremony, including Best Male Lead, prompting an acceptance that brought the house down by apologies to the other nominees who would be known as “the guys who lost to f****ing Adam Sandler”. The film also took home Best Director and Best Editing.
Like Adam Sandler’s performance in Uncut Gems, Lulu Wang’s The Farewell has been one of the films highlighted as a major snub at this year’s Oscars, which has been criticised heavily for its lack of diversity. The Independent Spirit Awards righted that wrong, though, but crowning it Best Feature and also giving the Supporting Female prize to Zhao Shuzhen.
Renée Zellweger continued to sweep every awards ceremony going with Best Female Lead for Judy, while Willem Dafoe was named Best Supporting Male for The Lighthouse, a film that also bagged Best Cinematography.
While Netflix has been largely shut out of the awards race, despite a raft of nominations at the BAFTAs and Oscars, the streaming service won Best Documentary for Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert’s American Factory, while Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story won Best Screenplay.
One overlap with the Oscars, however, was Parasite, with Bong Joon-ho’s film winning Best International Feature.
The awards were presented by Aubrey Plaza, whose opening monologue you can see below, followed by the complete list of winners:
BEST FEATURE
The Farewell (PRODUCERS: Anita Gou, Daniele Melia, Andrew Miano, Peter Saraf, Marc Turtletaub, Lulu Wang, Chris Weitz, Jane Zheng)
BEST DIRECTOR
Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie, Uncut Gems
BEST FEMALE LEAD
Renée Zellweger, Judy
BEST MALE LEAD
Adam Sandler, Uncut Gems
BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
Zhao Shuzhen, The Farewell
BEST SUPPORTING MALE
Willem Dafoe, The Lighthouse
BEST SCREENPLAY
Noah Baumbach, Marriage Story
BEST EDITING
Ronald Bronstein, Benny Safdie, Uncut Gems
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
American Factory (DIRECTORS/PRODUCERS: Steven Bognar, Julia Reichert; PRODUCERS: Julie Parker Benello, Jeff Reichert)
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Jarin Blaschke, The Lighthouse
BEST FIRST FEATURE
Booksmart (DIRECTOR: Olivia Wilde PRODUCERS: Chelsea Barnard, David Distenfeld, Jessica Elbaum, Megan Ellison, Katie Silberman)
BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Fredrica Bailey, Stefon Bristol, See You Yesterday
BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
Parasite, South Korea (DIRECTOR: Bong-Joon Ho)
PRODUCERS AWARD
Mollye Asher
SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD
Rashaad Ernesto Green, Premature
TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD
Nadia Shihab, Jaddoland
BONNIE AWARD
– Kelly Reichardt