Independent Spirit Awards 2008
Encyclopedia
The Independent Spirit Awards 2008 announced its nominees in December 2008. The winners were announced on February 21, 2009.
- The Wrestler
- Frozen River
- The Visitor
, France
, Italy
Hunger
, Ireland
/UK The Secret of the Grain (La graine et le mulet)
, France
Silent Light (Stellet licht)
, France
/Germany
/Netherlands
/Mexico
- Woody Allen
- Milk
- Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Best Actor (Best Male Lead)
Mickey RourkeMickey Rourke
Philip Andre "Mickey" Rourke, Jr. is an American actor, screenwriter and retired boxer, who has appeared primarily as a leading man in action, drama, and thriller films....
- The Wrestler
- Javier BardemJavier BardemJavier Ángel Encinas Bardem is a Spanish actor. In 2007 he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his role as sociopathic assassin Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men, and has also garnered critical acclaim for roles in films such as Jamón, jamón, Carne trémula, Boca a boca, Los...
- Vicky Cristina BarcelonaVicky Cristina BarcelonaVicky Cristina Barcelona is a 2008 romance comedy-drama film written and directed by Woody Allen, and starring Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz, Scarlett Johansson and Rebecca Hall... - Richard JenkinsRichard JenkinsRichard Dale Jenkins is an American stage, film, and television actor. After beginning his career in theatre, Jenkins made his film debut in 1974, and appeared in supporting roles in numerous film productions in the 1980s and the 1990s. His breakthrough came in the 2000s for playing the deceased...
- The VisitorThe Visitor (2007 film)The Visitor is a 2007 British short film directed by Dave Smith and starring Ciaran Griffiths and Conrad Westmaas.-See also:*The Visitor Award winning feature film written and directed by Thomas McCarthy.... - Sean PennSean PennSean Justin Penn is an American actor, screenwriter and film director, also known for his political and social activism...
- MilkMilk (film)Milk is a 2008 American biographical film on the life of gay rights activist and politician Harvey Milk, who was the first openly gay person to be elected to public office in California, as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors... - Jeremy RennerJeremy RennerJeremy Lee Renner is a two-time Academy-Award-nominated American actor and musician. Renner appeared in films throughout the 2000s, mostly in supporting roles. He came to prominence in films such as Dahmer , S.W.A.T. , Neo Ned , 28 Weeks Later and The Hurt Locker...
- The Hurt LockerThe Hurt LockerThe Hurt Locker is a 2009 American war film about a three-man United States Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal team during the Iraq War. The film was directed by Kathryn Bigelow and the screenplay was written by Mark Boal, a freelance writer who was embedded as a journalist in 2004 with a US bomb...
Best Actress (Best Female Lead)
Melissa LeoMelissa Leo
Melissa Chessington Leo , is an American actress. After appearing on several television shows and films in the late '80s, her breakthrough role came in 1993 as Det. Sgt. Kay Howard on the television series Homicide: Life on the Street for the show's first five seasons from 1993 – 1997...
- Frozen River
Frozen River
Frozen River is a 2008 American drama film written and directed by Courtney Hunt. The screenplay focuses on two working-class women who smuggle illegal immigrants in the trunk of a car from Canada to the United States in order to make ends meet...
- Summer BishilSummer BishilSummer Yasmine Bishil is an American actress. She first came to prominence for her role as Jasira in the 2007 film Towelhead. She has been chosen to portray Azula in the sequel to M. Night Shyamalan's film The Last Airbender....
- TowelheadTowelhead (film)Towelhead is a 2007 black comedy film written and directed by Alan Ball and based on Alicia Erian's novel of the same name. The film made its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival on September 8, 2007 under the name Nothing is Private... - Anne HathawayAnne Hathaway (actress)Anne Jacqueline Hathaway is an American actress. After several stage roles, she appeared in the 1999 television series Get Real. She played Mia Thermopolis in The Princess Diaries...
- Rachel Getting MarriedRachel Getting MarriedRachel Getting Married is a 2008 drama film directed by Jonathan Demme, and starring Anne Hathaway, Rosemarie DeWitt, Bill Irwin and Debra Winger. The film was released in the U.S. to select theaters on October 3, 2008. The film opened the 65th Venice International Film Festival. The film also... - Tarra Riggs - BallastBallast (film)Ballast is a 2008 film directed by Lance Hammer. It competed in the Dramatic Competition at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the awards for Best Director and Best Cinematography...
- Michelle WilliamsMichelle Williams (actress)Michelle Ingrid Williams is an American actress. After starting her career with television guest appearances in the early 1990s, Williams achieved recognition for her role as Jen Lindley on the WB television teen drama Dawson's Creek, which she played from 1998 to 2003...
- Wendy and LucyWendy and LucyWendy and Lucy is a 2008 American drama film directed by Kelly Reichardt. Reichardt and Jon Raymond adapted the screenplay from his short story "Train Choir". The film stars Michelle Williams and Will Patton...
Best Director
Tom McCarthyThomas McCarthy (actor)
Thomas Joseph McCarthy is an American actor, writer, and film director who has appeared in several movies, including Meet the Parents and Good Night, and Good Luck, and television shows such as The Wire, Boston Public, Law & Order, and the Hallmark Hall of Fame presentation of Saint Maybe...
- The Visitor
The Visitor (2007 film)
The Visitor is a 2007 British short film directed by Dave Smith and starring Ciaran Griffiths and Conrad Westmaas.-See also:*The Visitor Award winning feature film written and directed by Thomas McCarthy....
- Ramin BahraniRamin BahraniRamin Bahrani is an American director and screenwriter. Film critic Roger Ebert listed Bahrani's film Chop Shop as the 6th best film of the decade and hailed Bahrani as "the director of the decade." Bahrani was the recipient of the prestigious 2009 Guggenheim Fellowship, and was the subject of...
- Chop ShopChop Shop (film)Chop Shop is a 2007 American drama film co-written, edited, and directed by Ramin Bahrani. The film tells the story of a twelve-year-old street orphan living and working in Willets Point, an area in Queens, New York filled with automobile repair shops, scrapyards and garbage dumps.Chop Shop... - Jonathan DemmeJonathan DemmeRobert Jonathan Demme is an American filmmaker, producer and screenwriter. Best known for directing The Silence of the Lambs, which won him the Academy Award for Best Director, he has also directed the acclaimed movies Philadelphia, Rachel Getting Married, the Talking Heads concert movie Stop...
- Rachel Getting MarriedRachel Getting MarriedRachel Getting Married is a 2008 drama film directed by Jonathan Demme, and starring Anne Hathaway, Rosemarie DeWitt, Bill Irwin and Debra Winger. The film was released in the U.S. to select theaters on October 3, 2008. The film opened the 65th Venice International Film Festival. The film also... - Lance HammerLance HammerLance Hammer is an award-winning American independent filmmaker. His first film, Ballast, premiered at the Sundance Film Festival to critical acclaim....
- BallastBallast (film)Ballast is a 2008 film directed by Lance Hammer. It competed in the Dramatic Competition at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the awards for Best Director and Best Cinematography... - Courtney HuntCourtney HuntCourtney Hunt is an American screenwriter and film director. She has received much critical acclaim for her debut film, Frozen River, for which she has gained an Oscar nomination, two Independent Spirit nominations, and a Satellite Award nod for the film...
- Frozen RiverFrozen RiverFrozen River is a 2008 American drama film written and directed by Courtney Hunt. The screenplay focuses on two working-class women who smuggle illegal immigrants in the trunk of a car from Canada to the United States in order to make ends meet...
Best Film (Best Feature)
The Wrestler- BallastBallast (film)Ballast is a 2008 film directed by Lance Hammer. It competed in the Dramatic Competition at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the awards for Best Director and Best Cinematography...
- Frozen RiverFrozen RiverFrozen River is a 2008 American drama film written and directed by Courtney Hunt. The screenplay focuses on two working-class women who smuggle illegal immigrants in the trunk of a car from Canada to the United States in order to make ends meet...
- Rachel Getting MarriedRachel Getting MarriedRachel Getting Married is a 2008 drama film directed by Jonathan Demme, and starring Anne Hathaway, Rosemarie DeWitt, Bill Irwin and Debra Winger. The film was released in the U.S. to select theaters on October 3, 2008. The film opened the 65th Venice International Film Festival. The film also...
- Wendy and LucyWendy and LucyWendy and Lucy is a 2008 American drama film directed by Kelly Reichardt. Reichardt and Jon Raymond adapted the screenplay from his short story "Train Choir". The film stars Michelle Williams and Will Patton...
Best Foreign Film
The Class (Entre les murs)Entre les murs
The Class is a 2008 French drama film directed by Laurent Cantet. Its original French title is Entre les murs, which translates literally to "Between the walls". It is based on the 2006 novel of the same name by François Bégaudeau...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Gomorra (film)
Gomorrah is a 2008 Italian film directed by Matteo Garrone, based on the book by Roberto Saviano. It deals with the Casalesi clan, a crime syndicate within the Camorra — a traditional criminal organization based in Naples and Caserta, in the southern Italian region of Campania.-Plot summary:The...
, Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
Hunger
Hunger (2008 film)
Hunger is a 2008 film about the 1981 Irish hunger strike. It was written by Enda Walsh and Steve R. McQueen, who also directed. It was made by Blast! Films and commissioned by Channel 4 and Film4. It premiered at the 2008 Cannes Film Festival, winning the prestigious Caméra d'Or award for...
, Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
/UK The Secret of the Grain (La graine et le mulet)
The Secret of the Grain
The Secret of the Grain is a 2007 Franco-Tunisian drama film directed by Abdel Kechiche. The film stars Habib Boufares as an ageing immigrant from the Maghreb whose ambition to establish a successful restaurant as an inheritance for his large and disparate family meets sceptical opposition from...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Silent Light (Stellet licht)
Silent Light
- External links :* * at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival* - External links :* * at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival* - External links :* * at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival*...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
/Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
/Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
/Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
Best Screenplay
Vicky Cristina BarcelonaVicky Cristina Barcelona
Vicky Cristina Barcelona is a 2008 romance comedy-drama film written and directed by Woody Allen, and starring Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz, Scarlett Johansson and Rebecca Hall...
- Woody Allen
Woody Allen
Woody Allen is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, jazz musician, author, and playwright. Allen's films draw heavily on literature, sexuality, philosophy, psychology, Jewish identity, and the history of cinema...
- Savage GraceSavage GraceSavage Grace is a 2007 film directed by Tom Kalin and written by Howard Rodman, based on the book Savage Grace by Natalie Robins and Steven M.L. Aronson. The story is based on the dysfunctional, allegedly incestuous relationship between heiress and socialite Barbara Daly Baekeland and her son, Antony...
- Howard A. Rodman - SugarSugar (2008 film)Sugar is a 2008 sports drama film directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck. It follows the story of Miguel Santos, a. k. a. Sugar , a Dominican pitcher from San Pedro de Macorís, struggling to make it to the big leagues and pull himself and his family out of poverty...
- Anna BodenAnna BodenAnna Boden is an American film director, cinematographer, editor, and screenwriter best known as the co-writer of the 2006 film Half Nelson. She is known for her collaborations with fellow filmmaker Ryan Fleck.- Life and career :...
and Ryan FleckRyan FleckRyan K. Fleck is an American film director, cinematographer, editor, and screenwriter best known for directing and writing the 2006 film Half Nelson and the 2008 film Sugar. He is known for his collaborations with fellow filmmaker Anna Boden.-Life and career:Fleck was born in Berkeley, California... - Synecdoche, New YorkSynecdoche, New YorkSynecdoche, New York is a 2008 American drama film written and directed by Charlie Kaufman, and starring Philip Seymour Hoffman. It was Kaufman's directorial debut.The film premiered in competition at the 61st Annual Cannes Film Festival on May 23, 2008...
- Charlie KaufmanCharlie KaufmanCharles Stuart "Charlie" Kaufman is an American screenwriter, producer, and director. His film work includes Being John Malkovich, Human Nature, Adaptation, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Synecdoche, New York... - Sangre de mi sangre - Christopher Zalla
Best Supporting Actor (Best Supporting Male)
James FrancoJames Franco
James Edward Franco is an American actor, film director, producer, screenwriter, author, painter, performance artist and instructor at New York University. He left college in order to pursue acting and started off his career by making guest appearances on television series in the 1990s...
- Milk
Milk (film)
Milk is a 2008 American biographical film on the life of gay rights activist and politician Harvey Milk, who was the first openly gay person to be elected to public office in California, as a member of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors...
- Anthony MackieAnthony MackieAnthony Mackie is an American actor. He has been featured in feature films, television series and Broadway and Off-Broadway plays, including Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Drowning Crow, McReele, A Soldier's Play, and Talk, by Carl Hancock Rux, for which he won an Obie Award in 2002.In 2002 he featured...
- The Hurt LockerThe Hurt LockerThe Hurt Locker is a 2009 American war film about a three-man United States Army Explosive Ordnance Disposal team during the Iraq War. The film was directed by Kathryn Bigelow and the screenplay was written by Mark Boal, a freelance writer who was embedded as a journalist in 2004 with a US bomb... - Charlie McDermottCharlie McDermottCharlie McDermott is an American television and film actor. Since 2004, he has worked on a wide range of television series, including The Office, Private Practice and The Middle. He moved to Los Angeles at the age of 16....
- Frozen RiverFrozen RiverFrozen River is a 2008 American drama film written and directed by Courtney Hunt. The screenplay focuses on two working-class women who smuggle illegal immigrants in the trunk of a car from Canada to the United States in order to make ends meet... - Jim Myron Ross - BallastBallast (film)Ballast is a 2008 film directed by Lance Hammer. It competed in the Dramatic Competition at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, where it won the awards for Best Director and Best Cinematography...
- Haaz SleimanHaaz Sleiman-Career:One of Sleiman's first roles was in the 2004 African-American gay comedy film The Ski Trip. He co-starred as undocumented Syrian immigrant Tarek in the critically acclaimed 2008 independent film The Visitor, a drama nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award and an Oscar, directed by Thomas...
- The VisitorThe Visitor (2008 film)The Visitor is a 2008 American drama film written and directed by Thomas McCarthy and produced by Michael London and Mary Jane Skalski. Executive producers were Jeff Skoll and Omar Amanat...
Best Supporting Actress (Best Supporting Female)
Penélope CruzPenélope Cruz
Penélope Cruz Sánchez is a Spanish actress. Signed by an agent at age 15, she made her acting debut at 16 on television and her feature film debut the following year in Jamón, jamón , to critical acclaim...
- Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Vicky Cristina Barcelona is a 2008 romance comedy-drama film written and directed by Woody Allen, and starring Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz, Scarlett Johansson and Rebecca Hall...
- Rosemarie DeWittRosemarie DeWittRosemarie DeWitt is an American actress. DeWitt played Emily Lehman in the Fox television series Standoff, co-starring her now husband Ron Livingston, from 2006 through 2007, and played Charmaine Craine on Showtime's acclaimed original series, United States of Tara...
- Rachel Getting MarriedRachel Getting MarriedRachel Getting Married is a 2008 drama film directed by Jonathan Demme, and starring Anne Hathaway, Rosemarie DeWitt, Bill Irwin and Debra Winger. The film was released in the U.S. to select theaters on October 3, 2008. The film opened the 65th Venice International Film Festival. The film also... - Rosie PerezRosie PerezRosa María "Rosie" Pérez is an American actress, dancer, choreographer, director and community activist.- Early life :...
- The TakeThe Take (2008 film)The Take is a 2008 film directed by Brad Furman and starring John Leguizamo, Tyrese Gibson, and Rosie Perez. The film, released on April 11, 2008, is a crime drama about an armored-truck driver who survives a violent hijacking and becomes obsessed with tracking down his attackers... - Misty UphamMisty UphamMisty Anne Upham is a Native American actress best known for her role in the 2008 film Frozen River, for which she was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female....
- Frozen RiverFrozen RiverFrozen River is a 2008 American drama film written and directed by Courtney Hunt. The screenplay focuses on two working-class women who smuggle illegal immigrants in the trunk of a car from Canada to the United States in order to make ends meet... - Debra WingerDebra WingerMary Debra Winger is an American actress. Three-times an Oscar nominee, she received awards for acting in Terms of Endearment, for which she won the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress in 1983, and in A Dangerous Woman, for which she won the Tokyo International Film Festival...
- Rachel Getting MarriedRachel Getting MarriedRachel Getting Married is a 2008 drama film directed by Jonathan Demme, and starring Anne Hathaway, Rosemarie DeWitt, Bill Irwin and Debra Winger. The film was released in the U.S. to select theaters on October 3, 2008. The film opened the 65th Venice International Film Festival. The film also...