Independent Spirit Awards: 2009

Independent Spirit Award

Date:	21 February
Host:	Steve Coogan
Location:	Santa Monica Beach, Santa Monica, California, USA

Best Supporting Male


Winner:
	Milk (2008/I) - James Franco (I)
Other Nominees:
	Ballast (2008) - JimMyron Ross Frozen River (2008) - Charlie McDermott (I) The Hurt Locker (2008) - Anthony Mackie The Visitor (2007/I) - Haaz Sleiman

Best Supporting Female


Winner:
	Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008) - Pen�lope Cruz
Other Nominees:
	Frozen River (2008) - Misty Upham Rachel Getting Married (2008) - Rosemarie DeWitt Rachel Getting Married (2008) - Debra Winger The Take (2007) - Rosie Perez

Best Director


Winner:
	The Visitor (2007/I) - Thomas McCarthy (I)
Other Nominees:
	Ballast (2008) - Lance Hammer Chop Shop (2007) - Ramin Bahrani Frozen River (2008) - Courtney Hunt Rachel Getting Married (2008) - Jonathan Demme

Best Screenplay


Winner:
	Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008) - Woody Allen
Other Nominees:
	Padre Nuestro (2007) - Christopher Zalla Savage Grace (2007) - Howard A. Rodman Sugar (2008/I) - Anna Boden; Ryan Fleck Synecdoche, New York (2008) - Charlie Kaufman

Best First Screenplay


Winner:
	Milk (2008/I) - Dustin Lance Black
Other Nominees:
	Ballast (2008) - Lance Hammer Frozen River (2008) - Courtney Hunt Rachel Getting Married (2008) - Jenny Lumet The Wackness (2008) - Jonathan Levine (II)

Best Cinematography


Winner:
	The Wrestler (2008) - Maryse Alberti
Other Nominees:
	Ballast (2008) - Lol Crawley Chop Shop (2007) - Michael Simmonds Medicine for Melancholy (2008) - James Laxton Milk (2008/I) - Harris Savides

Best Documentary


Winner:
	Man on Wire (2008) - James Marsh (I)
Other Nominees:
	Encounters at the End of the World (2007) - Werner Herzog The Betrayal - Nerakhoon (2008) - Ellen Kuras; Thavisouk Phrasavath The Order of Myths (2008) - Margaret Brown (II) Up the Yangtze (2007) - Yung Chang (I)

Best Foreign Film


Winner:
	Entre les murs (2008) - Laurent Cantet - France.
Other Nominees:
	Gomorra (2008) - Matteo Garrone - Italy. Hunger (2008) - Steve McQueen (III) - England/Ireland. La graine et le mulet (2007) - Abdel Kechiche - France. Stellet licht (2007) - Carlos Reygadas - Mexico/France/Netherlands/Germany.

Best Female Lead


Winner:
	Frozen River (2008) - Melissa Leo
Other Nominees:
	Ballast (2008) - Tarra Riggs Nothing Is Private (2007) - Summer Bishil Rachel Getting Married (2008) - Anne Hathaway (I) Wendy and Lucy (2008) - Michelle Williams (I)

Best First Feature


Winner:
	Synecdoche, New York (2008) - Charlie Kaufman (director/producer); Anthony Bregman (producer); Spike Jonze (producer); Sidney Kimmel (producer)
Other Nominees:
	Afterschool (2008) - Antonio Campos (I) (director); T. Sean Durkin (producer); Josh Mond (producer) Medicine for Melancholy (2008) - Barry Jenkins (III) (director); Justin Barber (producer) Padre Nuestro (2007) - Christopher Zalla (director); Per Melita (I) (producer); Ben Odell (II) (producer) Sleep Dealer (2008) - Alex Rivera (II) (director); Anthony Bregman (producer)

Best Feature


Winner:
	The Wrestler (2008) - Darren Aronofsky; Scott Franklin (I)
Other Nominees:
	Ballast (2008) - Lance Hammer; Nina Parikh Frozen River (2008) - Chip Hourihan; Heather Rae (I) Rachel Getting Married (2008) - Neda Armian; Jonathan Demme; Marc Platt (III) Wendy and Lucy (2008) - Larry Fessenden; Neil Kopp; Anish Savjani

Best Male Lead


Winner:
	The Wrestler (2008) - Mickey Rourke
Other Nominees:
	Milk (2008/I) - Sean Penn (I) The Hurt Locker (2008) - Jeremy Renner The Visitor (2007/I) - Richard Jenkins (I) Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008) - Javier Bardem


Winner:
	In Search of a Midnight Kiss (2007) - Alex Holdridge (writer/director); Seth Caplan (producer); Scoot McNairy (producer)
Other Nominees:
	Prince of Broadway (2008) - Sean Baker (II) (writer/director); Darren Dean (writer/producer) Take Out (2004) - Sean Baker (II) (writer/director/producer); Shih-Ching Tsou (writer/director/producer) The Signal (2007/I) - David Bruckner (writer/director); Dan Bush (I) (writer/director); Jacob Gentry (I) (writer/director/producer); Alexander Motlagh (producer) Turn the River (2007) - Chris Eigeman (writer/director); Ami Armstrong (producer)


Winner:
	Synecdoche, New York (2008) - Charlie Kaufman (director); Jeanne McCarthy (casting director); Hope Davis (I); Philip Seymour Hoffman; Jennifer Jason Leigh; Catherine Keener; Samantha Morton; Tom Noonan; Emily Watson (I); Dianne Wiest; Michelle Williams (I)


Winner:
	The Order of Myths (2008) - Margaret Brown (II)
Other Nominees:
	Anvil! The Story of Anvil (2008) - Sacha Gervasi Loot (2008) - Darius Marder


Winner:
	Frozen River (2008) - Heather Rae (I) - Also for Ibid (2008).
Other Nominees:
	Goodbye Solo (2008) - Jason Orans - Also for Year of the Fish (2007). Treeless Mountain (2008) - Lars Knudsen (I); Jay Van Hoy - Also for I'll Come Running (2008).


Winner:
	My Effortless Brilliance (2008) - Lynn Shelton (I)
Other Nominees:
	Medicine for Melancholy (2008) - Barry Jenkins (III) Sita Sings the Blues (2008) - Nina Paley