Oscar Consolation? Black Swan Dominates Independent Spirit Awards

Ballet-infused thriller starring Natalie Portman reigns supreme, leading the winners with four trophies (including Best Feature) at the Independent Spirit Awards Saturday afternoon

By Brandi Fowler Feb 27, 2011 1:30 AMTags
Natalie Portman, Black SwanFox Searchlight

Not even the chill of Winter's Bone could stop Black Swan from dancing away with four big wins at the 26th Annual Film Independent Spirit Awards.

While the gritty rural thriller came in with a leading seven nods, Black Swan proved to be the big indie darling, taking home Spirit Awards for every category in which it was nominated: Best Feature, Best Lead Actress (Natalie Portman), Best Cinematography (Matthew Libatique) and Best Director (Darren Aronofsky).

Portman, who has proven to be the best actress frontrunner this awards season, continued to blow out the competition with her Independent Spirit Award (she's already nabbed a Golden Globe and a BAFTA), just a day before the Oscars.

"This is my first time here," Portman said during her acceptance speech before joking that the ballet-infused film was a veritable independent filmmaking experience indeed. "We had a bond company on set for the last, like two months and it was only a two-and-a-half month shoot. My ballet teachers everyday were like, 'Sooo, when do we get paid?' "

Hosted by E!'s own Joel McHale, the Spirit awards had a few more surprises in store than just the Black Swan domination, however.

James Franco, who has been a tad overlooked in the awards department this season (aside from hosting the Oscars), nabbed the award for Best Lead Actor for his role in 127 Hours.

"It was a crazy, crazy experience…that I don't think I'll ever repeat," Franco said upon accepting the award (He did have to faux-cut off his own arm, after all). 

Winter's Bone didn't go home empty-handed, either. Widely reguarded as a favorite going in to the indie awards show, Winter's Bone took home nods in the supporting-acting categories, for John Hawkes and Dale Dickey, respectively.

Meanwhile, The Kids Are All Right, nominated in five categories, managed to win Best Screenplay.

And where was the award-nabbing King's Speech in the mix?

As was the case earlier this month at the Writer's Guild Awards, the Oscar-favorite Brit import was not eligible in the main Spirit categories, only Best Foreign Film, which it won. 

Here's the complete list of winners:

Best Feature: Black Swan
Best Director: Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
Best Male Lead: James Franco, 127 Hours
Best Female Lead: Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Best Supporting Male: John Hawkes, Winter's Bone
Best Supporting Female: Dale Dickey, Winter's Bone
Best First Feature: Get Low
Best Screenplay: Stuart Blumberg and Lisa Cholodenko, The Kids Are All Right
Best First Screenplay: Lena Dunham, Tiny Furniture
Best Cinematography: Matthew Libatique, Black Swan
Robert Altman Award: Please Give
Best Documentary: Exit Through the Gift Shop
Best Foreign Film: The King's Speech
John Cassavetes Award: Daddy Longlegs
Acura Someone to Watch Award:
Mike Ott, Littlerock
Aveeno Truer Than Fiction Award: Jeff Malmberg, Marwencol
Piaget Producers Award: Anish Savjani, Meek's Cutoff