Moonlight & Other Gay-Themed Movies Are The Big Winners At The Independent Spirit Awards

Each year the day before the Oscars, the Independent Spirit Awards are held, which were set up as the equivalent of the Hollywood-centric Academy Awards but for movies made outside the mainstream. This year the big winner was Moonlight, which picked up five gongs.

The film, about three stages in the life of a young gay man, picked up Best Feature, Best Director and Best Screenplay for Barry Jenkins, Best Cinematography for James Laxton and the Robert Altman Award for Best Ensemble. It’s an impressive result for the movie, which is also hoping to win some awards at the Oscars. While most expect La La Land to be the big winner at the Academy Awards, many hope Moonlight will at least be able to at least pick up a couple Oscars, and some think it has a decent chance of providing an upset and winning Best Film.

Moonlight wasn’t the only gay-themed film that triumphed at the Independent Spirit Awards. Molly Shannon won Best Supporting Actress for playing the dying mother of a gay son in the dramedy Other People. There was also Andrew Ahn’s Spa Night, about a Korean-American teenager who finds an underground world of gay sex in a Korean spa, which took home the John Cassavetes Awards for Best Feature Made For Under $5,000.

It was certainly a gay-heavy evening! The Oscars only have Moonlight representing gay-themed cinema, so we’ll have to cross our fingers that it manages to win a few awards there too. Take a look at the full list of Independent Spirit Award winners and some highlights below.

BEST FEATURE – Moonlight

BEST DIRECTOR – Barry Jenkins, Moonlight

BEST FEMALE LEAD – Isabelle Huppert, Elle

BEST MALE LEAD – Casey Affleck, Manchester by the Sea

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE – Molly Shannon, Other People

BEST SUPPORTING MALE – Ben Foster, Hell or High Water

BEST SCREENPLAY – Barry Jenkins, Tarell Alvin McCraney, Moonlight

BEST EDITING – Joi McMillon, Nat Sanders, Moonlight

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE – O.J.: Made In America

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY – James Laxton, Moonlight

BEST FIRST FEATURE – The Witch

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY – Robert Eggers, The Witch