TORONTO — If the Film Independent Spirit Awards are a predictor of the Academy Awards, Sunday will be a golden night for Birdman and actors Julianne Moore and Michael Keaton.
All three were big winners at Saturday’s Spirit Awards in Santa Monica, Calif. The show, which recognizes the best in independent movies, was hosted by Fred Armisen and Kristen Bell.
Birdman was named the year’s best feature film. “This film would not be this film without Michael Keaton,” said producer and director Alejandro G. Iñárritu.
Moments earlier, Keaton won the male lead award.
“I’m unbelievably grateful for this,” Keaton said, before praising the film. “This is a game changer and I am really, really fortunate and blessed to be part of something this bold.”
Birdman also earned Emmanuel Lubezki a Spirit Award for best cinematography.
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Moore won the female lead award for playing a woman living with Alzheimer’s in the drama Still Alice.
“We made this film in 23 days for $4 million,” Moore recalled. “I brought my own bras and my own food. I begged my friend Alec Baldwin to do it.”
Moore is widely expected to win Best Actress at Sunday’s Oscars but Keaton is in a close race with Eddie Redmayne of The Theory of Everything.
The Spirit Award for best director went to Richard Linklater for Boyhood. Star Ethan Hawke accepted on his behalf.
Oscar frontrunners J.K. Simmons (Whiplash) and Patricia Arquette (Boyhood) won Spirit Awards in supporting acting categories.
Dan Gilroy won both the best first feature and best screenplay awards for Nightcrawler starring Jake Gyllenhaal.
The Spirit Awards also honoured Citizenfour (Best Documentary) and Tom Cross (Best Editing – Whiplash).
Poland’s Ida beat Canada’s Mommy — by Quebec director Xavier Dolan — for Best International Film.
Armisen and Bell opened the show with a spoof of Birdman, a musical number and jokes about some of the nominees.
Bell praised Whiplash director Damien Chazelle for doing “something no one was done before — he made jazz interesting for people who aren’t on heroine.”
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