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Full list of winners for the 31st Film Independent Spirit Awards

February 28, 2016 by Gary Collinson

Ahead of tonight’s Academy Awards, Film Independent hosted the 31st annual Spirit Awards yesterday in Los Angeles, with Tom McCarthy’s Spotlight the big winner, collecting Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Editing, along with the Robert Altman Award, which recognises a film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast.

On the acting front, there were awards for Beasts of No Nation’s Abraham Attah (Best Actor) and Idris Elba (Best Supporting Actor), along with Room’s Brie Larson (Best Actress) and Tangerine’s Mya Taylor (Best Supporting Actress). Check out a full list of the winners below, hightlighted in red…

BEST PICTURE
“Anomalisa”
“Beasts of No Nation”
“Carol”
“Spotlight”
“Tangerine”

BEST DIRECTOR
Cary Joji Fukunaga, “Beasts of No Nation”
Charlie Kaufman & Duke Johnson, “Anomalisa”
David Robert Mitchell, “It Follows”
Sean Baker, “Tangerine”
Todd Haynes, “Carol”
Tom McCarthy, “Spotlight”

BEST ACTOR
Abraham Attah, “Beasts of No Nation”
Ben Mendelsohn, “Mississippi Grind”
Christopher Abbott, “James White”
Jason Segel, “The End of the Tour”
Kudos Seihon, “Mediterranea”

BEST ACTRESS
Bel Powley, “Diary of a Teenage Girl”
Brie Larson, “Room”
Cate Blanchett, “Carol”
Kitana Kiki Rodriguez, “Tangerine”
Rooney Mara, “Carol”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Idris Elba, “Beasts of No Nation”
Kevin Corrigan, “Results”
Michael Shannon, “99 Homes”
Paul Dano, “Love & Mercy”
Richard Jenkins, “Bone Tomahawk”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Cynthia Nixon, “James White”
Jennifer Jason Leigh, “Anomalisa”
Marin Ireland, “Glass Chin”
Mya Taylor, “Tangerine”
Robin Bartlett, “H.”

BEST SCREENPLAY
Charlie Kaufman, “Anomalisa”
Donald Marguiles, “The End of the Tour”
Phyllis Nagy, “Carol”
S. Craig Zahler, “Bone Tomahawk”
Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer, “Spotlight”

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Cary Joji Fukunaga, “Beasts of No Nation”
Ed Lachman, “Carol”
Joshua James Richards, “Songs My Brothers Taught Me”
Michael Gioulakis, “It Follows”
Reed Morano, “Meadowland”

BEST FILM EDITING
Ronald Bronstein and Benny Safdie, “Heaven Knows What”
Julio C. Perez IV, “It Follows”
Kristan Sprague, “Manos Sucias”
Nathan Nugent, “Room”
Tom McArdle, “Spotlight”

BEST DOCUMENTARY
“(T)error”
“Best of Enemies”
“Heart of a Dog”
“Meru”
“The Look of Silence”
“The Russian Woodpecker”

BEST INTERNATIONAL PICTURE
“A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence”
“Embrace of the Serpent”
“Girlhood”
“Mustang”
“Son of Saul”

BEST FIRST FEATURE
“James White”
“Manos Sucias”
“Mediterranea”
“Songs My Brothers Taught Me”
“The Diary of a Teenage Girl”

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Emma Donoghue, “Room”
Jesse Andrews, “Me and Earl and the Dying Girl”
John Magary, Russell Harbaugh, and Myna Joseph, “The Mend”
Jonas Carpignano, “Mediterranea”
Marielle Heller, “The Diary of a Teenage Girl”

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD (Best Feature Made for Under $500,000)
“Advantageous”
“Christmas, Again”
“Heaven Knows What”
“Krisha”
“Out of My Mind”

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD
“Spotlight”

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Originally published February 28, 2016. Updated April 14, 2018.

Filed Under: Awards Season, Gary Collinson, Movies, News Tagged With: Film Independent Spirit Awards

About Gary Collinson

Gary Collinson is Founder and Editor-in-Chief of Flickering Myth. He is a film, television and digital content writer and producer, whose work includes the gothic horror feature The Baby in the Basket and the suspense thriller Death Among the Pines. He is also the author of Holy Franchise, Batman! Bringing the Caped Crusader to the Screen.

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