Entertainment Today TV’s Show Host : Margie Rey takes you to The 2018 FILM INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARDS for an interview with actress Salma Hayek Pinault (photo below), which took place this afternoon and was held on the beach in Santa Monica. Margie will be bringing you many more exclusive interviews with more Oscar nominees and winners, and other A-List celebrities from this Gala Pre-Oscar Awards, the day right before The Oscars. 
Film Independent, the nonprofit arts organization that produces the Spirit Awards and the LA Film Festival, handed out honors to Call Me by Your Name, Get Out, I, Tonya, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, The Big Sick, Ingrid Goes West and Lady Bird at this afternoon’s 33rd Film Independent Spirit Awards. Life and Nothing More, Faces Places and A Fantastic Woman also received awards at the ceremony, which was held on the beach in Santa Monica. In addition to being the celebration that honors artist-driven films made with an economy of means by filmmakers whose films embody diversity, innovation and uniqueness of vision, the Spirit Awards is the primary fundraiser for Film Independent’s year-round programs.
This year’s major winners were Get Out, which won Best Feature and Best Director; Call Me by Your Name, which won Best Male Lead and Best Cinematography; I, Tonya, which won Best Supporting Female and Best Editing; Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, which won Best Female Lead and Best Supporting Male; Lady Bird, which won Best Screenplay; Ingrid Goes West, which won Best First Feature;The Big Sick, which won Best First Screenplay; Life and Nothing More, which won the John Cassavetes Award;Faces Places which won Best Documentary and A Fantastic Woman, which won Best International Film.
The 11th annual Robert Altman Award was given to one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast. Mudbound director Dee Rees received this award, along with casting directors Billy Hopkins and Ashley Ingram as well as cast members Jonathan Banks, Mary J. Blige, Jason Clarke, Garrett Hedlund, Jason Mitchell, Rob Morgan and Carey Mulligan.
Best Feature: Get Out(Universal Pictures) Producers: Jason Blum, Edward H. Hamm Jr., Sean McKittrick, Jordan Peele
Best Director: Jordan Peele, Get Out (Universal Pictures)
Best Screenplay: Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird (A24) -2nd from left, and below photo on left :
Best First Feature: Ingrid Goes West (NEON) Director: Matt Spicer Producers: Jared Ian Goldman, Adam Mirels, Robert Mirels, Aubrey Plaza, Tim White, Trevor White
Best First Screenplay: Emily V. Gordon, Kumail Nanjiani,The Big Sick (Amazon Studios)
John Cassavetes Award (For best feature made under $500,000): Life and Nothing More(CFI Releasing) Writer/Director: Antonio Méndez Esparza Producers: Amadeo Hernández Bueno, Alvaro Portanet Hernández, Pedro Hernández Santos
Best Supporting Female: Allison Janney, I, Tonya (NEON)
Best Supporting Male: Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (Fox Searchlight) below photos Sam on left :
Best Female Lead: Frances McDormand,Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (Fox Searchlight) Best Male Lead: Timothée Chalamet,Call Me by Your Name (Sony Pictures Classics) Robert Altman Award: Mudbound (Netflix) Director: Dee Rees Casting Directors: Billy Hopkins, Ashley Ingram
Ensemble Cast: Jonathan Banks, Mary J. Blige, Jason Clarke, Garrett Hedlund, Jason Mitchell, Rob Morgan, Carey Mulligan Best Cinematography: Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, Call Me by Your Name (Sony Pictures Classics) Best Editing: Tatiana S. Riegel, I, Tonya (NEON) Best International Film: A Fantastic Woman (Chile – Sony Pictures Classics) Director: Sebastián Lelio Best Documentary: Faces Places (Cohen Media Group) Directors: Agnés Varda, JR Producer: Rosalie Varda
On January 6, the following winners were honored at the Spirit Awards Nominee Brunch hosted by John Cho :
and Alia Shawkat at BOA Steakhouse in West Hollywood: Chloé Zhao received the inaugural Bonnie Award. Bonnie Tiburzi Caputo joined American Airlines in 1973 at age 24, becoming the first female pilot to fly for a major U.S. airline. In her honor, the Bonnie Award recognizes a mid-career female director with a $50,000 unrestricted grant sponsored by American Airlines. Finalists for the award were So Yong Kim and Lynn Shelton.
Jonathan Olshefski, director of Quest, received the Jeepâ Truer Than Fiction Award. The award is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not received significant recognition. The award is in its 23rd year and includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant sponsored by the Jeep brand for the first year. Finalists for the award were Shevaun Mizrahi, director of Distant Constellation and Jeff Unay, director of The Cage Fighter.
Justin Chon,director of Gook, received the Kiehl’s Someone to Watch Award. The award recognizes talented filmmakers of singular vision who have not yet received appropriate recognition. The award is in its 24th year and includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant sponsored by Kiehl’s Since 1851 for the fourth consecutive year. Finalists for the award were Amman Abbasi, director of Dayveon and Kevin Phillips, director of Super Dark Times.
Summer Shelton received the Piaget Producers Award. The award honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce quality, independent films. The annual award, in its 21st year, includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant sponsored by Piaget for the 11th year. Finalists for the award were Giulia Caruso & Ki Jin Kim and Ben Leclair.
Matty Brown received the Seattle Story Award. The award is for a filmmaker who exhibits innovation, diversity and uniqueness of vision while having a history of transforming perspectives through rich stories. The award includes a $25,000 cash grant, sponsored by Visit Seattle, to create a short film inspired by Seattle’s deep textures and independent spirit. This film, Dreamcatcher, premiered during the Spirit Awards broadcast and can be seen online at VISITSEATTLE.tv.
Attendees: Joining Josh Welsh, President of Film Independent, were hosts Nick Kroll and John Mulaney : Below photos on Left & Right:
and Spirit Award Honorary Chair Ava DuVernay. House Band: Sunflower Bean
Presenters included: Fred Armisen, Chadwick Boseman, Alison Brie, Carrie Brownstein, Timothée Chalamet, John Cho, Jason Clarke, Zoey Deutch, Ava DuVernay, Beanie Feldstein, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Danai Gurira, Jon Hamm, Ethan Hawke, Lil Rel Howery, Spike Lee, Ben Mendelsohn, Janelle Monáe, Kumail Nanjiani, Elizabeth Olsen, Robert Pattinson, Salma Hayek Pinault, Margot Robbie, Amanda Seyfried, Molly Shannon, below photos on left:
Sarah Silverman, Kathryn Hahn and Lena Waithe.
Now in its 33rd year, the Film Independent Spirit Awards is an annual celebration honoring artist-driven films made with an economy of means by filmmakers whose films embody independence and originality. The Spirit Awards recognizes the achievements of American independent filmmakers and promotes the finest independent films of the year to a wider audience.
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