A Clean Sweep for "Moonlight" at the Spirit Awards
Sunday, February 26, 2017 at 9:00AM
NATHANIEL R in Moonlight, Spirit Awards, precursor awards

Moonlight won in every category it was nominated in yesterday in Spirit Award's big tent. That was five prizes as well as a sixth (non-competitive) with their annual Robert Altman award honoring great ensembles. Smartly the prize goes not just to the cast but the director and the casting director. The A24 hit won't be quite that lucky tonight at the Oscars but hopefully it won't go home empty-handed either.

a moment between Mahershala Ali and The Bening at the Spirit Awards

History is full of wonderful films that had big nights at the Spirits as their last hurrah before Oscar shut-outs or Screenplay- only wins (The Wrestler, Far From Heaven, Sideways come to mind). But if you'd like to maintain hope that Moonlight takes Best Picture tonight at the Oscars there is always this factoid: The Spirit Awards Best Film winner has gone on to win the Oscar for Best Picture four out of six times this decade: The Artist (2011), 12 Years a Slave (2013), Birdman (2014), and Spotlight (2015)

The winners list as well as videos of some moments under that famous tent after the jump.

Best Feature

Best Director

Best First Feature

 

Best Male Lead

Best Female Lead

I'm still trying to figure out how Huppert was eligible for this as they generally don't allow foreign films nomination outside of foreign film. And this is the one place Annette Bening might have been able to pick up a prize for her career best work. (Sigh). At least history will be on our side when 20th Century Women ages superbly and everyone will be all like "how come people didn't shower it with awards back then?" 

 

Best Supporting Male

With Mahershala Ali and Jeff Bridges (from his own film) not nominated, Ben Foster finally got a chance to shine!

Best Supporting Female

Best Screenplay

Best First Screenplay

It's a big surprising that Other People lost this, given that it comes across as such a writer's movie. But as you know I am a huge fan of The Witch so I'm not complaining. 

Best International Film

So sad that Aquarius lost but it was to be expected. Toni Erdmann was most definitely the highest profile nominee as well as as showered with awards this year (see the EFA triumph and lots of critics prizes)

Best Documentary Feature

I remain so disappointed that not one movie awards groups called ESPN out on their shell game trying to pass off a TV miniseries as a movie. What's to stop all deep pocketed networks from four walling movie theaters for a week now to make all their TV shows and series movie award eligible?

Best Cinematography

Best Editing

Nat Sanders previously edited the great Short Term 12 so he's gifted with shaping performances by kids and teenagers. Joi McMillon is the first black woman to win for editing here at the Spirits and the first black female editing nominee ever at the Oscars.

John Cassavetes Award

This category is for low budget features (anything under $500,000)

Robert Altman Award

Piaget Producers Award

Truer Than Fiction Award

Someone to Watch Award

FINIS

Longtime friends Barry Jenkins (Director) & James Laxton (Cinematographer) with their Spirit Awards for Moonlight

Moonlight's dominance was completely understandable so it's nice that they found a way to honor a breakthrough like The Witch as well as true micro-indies like Spa Night and The Fits, too. But a moment of silence please for Andrea Arnold's sun drenched polarizing beauty American Honey which led the nominations but lost every category.

And that's a wrap for another year of the Spirits. 

Article originally appeared on The Film Experience (http://thefilmexperience.net/).
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