Breaking News: “Black Swan” wins big at Indie Spirit Awards; also James Franco and Banksy!

The Independent Spirit Awards which honor excellence in independent film making has wrapped for the year with this afternoon’s awards ceremony held in Santa Monica, California. LGBT film favorite Black Swan picked up awards for Best Film, Best Director (Darren Aronofsky), Best Actress (Natalie Portman) and Best Cinematography (Matthew Libatique). The other big queer film of the year, The Kids Are Alright, won an Indie for director Lisa Cholodenko and co-writer Stuart Blumberg for Best Screenplay but was shut out of all other awards. Cutie pie multi-tasker James Franco won Best Actor for 127 Hours and Best Supporting acting honors went to John Hawkes and Dale Dickey for Winter’s Bone. The mysterious street artist Banksy won for his documentary, Exit Through the Gift Shop but wasn’t on hand to pick up his trophy…or, at least if he was in attendance, he didn’t go to the stage. Of the Indie Spirit winners who also double as Oscar nominees, only Natalie Portman is considered to have a major shot at winning an Oscar tomorrow night. Ms Portman is considered the front runner for Best Actress but more recent rumblings from the grapevine indicate Annette Benning could be running neck and neck for the award with her popular turn in The Kids Are Alright. Oscar favorite, The King’s Speech picked up one award, the only one it was eligible for, and took home the prize for Best Foreign Film.

Here’s the compete list of Indie Spirit winners:

BEST FEATURE Black Swan (producers Scott Franklin, Mike Medavoy, Arnold W. Messer and Brian Oliver)

BEST MALE LEAD James Franco, 127 Hours

BEST FAMALE LEAD Natalie Portman, Black Swan

BEST SUPPORTING MALE John Hawkes, Winter’s Bone

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
 Dale Dickey, Winter’s Bone

BEST DIRECTOR Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
 Matthew Libatique, Black Swan

BEST FIRST FEATURE Get Low, director Aaron Schneider; producers David Gundlach and Dean Zanuck

BEST DOCUMENTARY Exit Through the Gift Shop , director Banksy

BEST FOREIGN FILM The King’s Speech (U.K.), director Tom Hooper

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD – (Given to one film’s director, casting director, and its ensemble cast)
: Please Give
Director: Nicole Holofcener ; Casting Director: Jeanne McCarthy; Ensemble Cast: Ann Guilbert, Rebecca Hall, Catherine Keener, Amanda Peet, Oliver Platt, Lois Smith, Sarah Steele

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD (Given to the best feature made for under $500,000): Daddy Longlegs Writer/Directors: Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie; 
Producers: Casey Neistat, Tom Scott

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY Lena Dunham, Tiny Furniture

BEST SCREENPLAY Stuart Blumberg and Lisa Cholodenko, The Kids Are All Right