"The Wrestler" won best feature, and its star Mickey Rourke best actor, at the Independent Spirit Awards in Santa Monica on Saturday.
The event honoring small, independent film rewarded Darren Aronofsky's searing but poignant tale about an aging wrestler, played by Rourke, and seemed to promise a winning prologue to the Academy Awards on Sunday, where the actor was favored to win in the same category.
The full list of winners:
BEST FEATURE
“The Wrestler”
BEST DIRECTOR
Tom McCarthy, “The Visitor”
BEST FIRST FEATURE
“Synecdoche, New York”
JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD
“In Search of a Midnight Kiss”
BEST SCREENPLAY
Woody Allen, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”
BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Dustin Lance Black, “Milk”
BEST FEMALE LEAD
Melissa Leo, “Frozen River”
BEST MALE LEAD
Mickey Rourke, “The Wrestler”
BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
Penelope Cruz, “Vicky Cristina Barcelona”
BEST SUPPORTING MALE
James Franco, “Milk”
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Maryse Alberti, “The Wrester”
BEST DOCUMENTARY
“Man on Wire”
BEST FOREIGN FILM
“The Class
ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD
Charlie Kaufman (Director), Jeanne McCarthy (Casting Director), Hope Davis, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Catherine Keener, Samantha Morton, Tom Noonan, Emily Watson, Diane Weist, Michelle Williams, Synecdoche.
