2011 Film Independent Spirit Award Winners Announced

The non-profit arts organization that produces the Spirit Awards and the Los Angeles Film Festival 'Film Independent' announced the winners of 2011 Film Independent Spirit Awards.

Black Swan, Winter's Bone, 127 Hours, The Kids Are All Right, The King's Speech, Exit Through the Gift Shop, Get Low, Tiny Furniture, and Daddy Longlegs received 26th Film Independent Spirit Awards at the ceremony, held in a tent on the beach in Santa Monica.

The Spirit Awards was the first event to exclusively honor independent film, and over the past 26 years, has become the premier awards show for the independent film community, celebrating films made by filmmakers who embody independence and originality. Artists receiving industry recognition first at the Spirit Awards include Joel & Ethan Coen, Spike Lee, Oliver Stone, Ashley Judd, Robert Rodriguez, David O. Russell, Edward Burns, Aaron Eckhart, Neil LaBute, Darren Aronofsky, Spike Jonze, Charlie Kaufman, Hilary Swank, Marc Forster, Todd Field, Christopher Nolan, Zach Braff, Amy Adams and many more.

This year's major category winners were Fox Searchlight's Black Swan, which won Best Feature, Best Director, Best Female Lead, and Best Cinematography and 127 Hours, which won Best Male Lead; Roadside Attractions' Winter's Bone, which won Best Supporting Female and Best Supporting Male; IFC Films' Tiny Furniture, which won Best First Screenplay and Daddy Longlegs, which won the John Cassavetes Award; Focus Features' The Kids Are All Right, which won Best Screenplay; The Weinstein Company's the King's Speech, which won Best Foreign Film; Producers Distribution Agency's Exit Through the Gift Shop, which won Best Documentary; and Sony Pictures Classics' Get Low, which won Best First Feature.

Also given was the 4th annual Robert Altman Award, given to one film's director, casting director, and ensemble cast. Nicole Holofcener's Please Give received this award, along with casting director Jeanne McCarthy and ensemble cast members Ann Guilbert, Rebecca Hall, Catherine Keener, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Amanda Peet, Oliver Platt, Lois Smith, and Sarah Steele.

Sandra Oh opened the carpet with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and an announcement that LG Cinema 3D made a $100,000 contribution to Film Independent's signature diversity program Project:Involve. Project:Involve nurtures the careers of talented writers, directors and producers from under-represented communities.

Film Independent and dick clark productions, in partnership with LG Cinema 3D, streamed a Live Arrivals Show at SpiritAwards.com, which included interviews with nominees and celebrities. The Arrivals Show will be rebroadcast at SpiritAwards.com throughout the evening.

Premiere Sponsors are IFC, ELLE, Netflix, Piaget, Acura, Jameson Irish Whiskey, LG Cinema 3D, HTC and Principal Sponsors are Stella Artois and AVEENO. WireImage is the Official Photographer, American Airlines is the Official Airline and PR Newswire is the Official Breaking News Service of Film Independent. The Fairmont Miramar Hotel and Bungalows is the Official Host Hotel for the Spirit Awards. On 3 Productions is the producer of the Official Presenter Gift Lounge and Official Ceremony Gift Bags. The Official Water of the Spirit Awards is smartwater. LG Cinema 3D is the Presenting Sponsor of the Voter Party at Santa Monica Place. For more information on the winners, photo galleries, and video clips from the arrivals and show, please visit www.SpiritAwards.com.

The complete list of the winners are as follows:

Best Feature	Fox Searchlight
Black Swan	Producers: Scott Franklin, Mike Medavoy, Arnold W. Messer, Brian Oliver
Best Director	Fox Searchlight
Darren Aronofsky	Black Swan
Best Screenplay	Focus Features
The Kids Are All Right	Writers: Stuart Blumberg & Lisa Cholodenko
Best First Feature	Sony Pictures Classics
Get Low	Director: Aaron Schneider
	Producers: David Gundlach, Dean Zanuck
Best First Screenplay	IFC Films
Lena Dunham	Tiny Furniture
John Cassavetes Award	IFC Films
(For the best feature made under $500,000)	Writers/Directors: Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie
Daddy Longlegs	Producers: Casey Neistat, Tom Scott
Best Supporting Female	Roadside Attractions
Dale Dickey	Winter's Bone
Best Supporting Male	Roadside Attractions
John Hawkes	Winter's Bone
Best Female	Fox Searchlight
Natalie Portman	Black Swan
Best Male	Fox Searchlight
James Franco	127 Hours
Best Cinematography	Fox Searchlight
Matthew Libatique	Black Swan
Best Foreign Film	The Weinstein Company
The King's Speech	Director: Tom Hooper
Best Documentary	Producers Distribution Agency
Exit Through The Gift Shop	Banksy

2011 FILM INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARD WINNERS BY DISTRIBUTOR
Fox Searchlight	5
IFC Films	2
Roadside Attractions	2
Focus Features	1
Producers Distribution Agency	1
Sony Pictures Classics	1
The Weinstein Company	1