Birdman soars at Independent Spirit Awards

Michael Keaton and Edward Norton in Birdman

Birdman flew away with the top prize for best feature at the Independent Spirit Awards tonight in LA. The film, above, directed by Alejandro Iñárritu, also saw Michael Keaton named best actor for his role as a washed-up actor who tries to recapture his former glory in a play on Broadway.

Richard Linklater was named best director for his 11-year exertions on Boyhood, which also saw Patricia Arquette named best supporting actress. Julianne Moore was named best female lead for her role as an Alzheimer's sufferer in Still Alice, while JK Simmons picked up the best supporting male award for his role as a draconian conductor in Whiplash.

The John Cassavetes Award for the best feature made for under $500,000 went to Aaron Katz and Martha Stephens for their Iceland Odyssey Land Ho!

Full list of nominees and winners below:

Best Feature (Award given to the producers)

• Winner: Birdman Or (The Unexpected Virtue Of Ignorance) - Producers: Alejandro G. Iñárritu, John Lesher, Arnon Milchan, James W. Skotchdopole
• Boyhood - Producers: Richard Linklater, Jonathan Sehring, John Sloss, Cathleen Sutherland
• Love Is Strange - Producers: Lucas Joaquin, Lars Knudsen, Ira Sachs, Jayne Baron Sherman, Jay Van Hoy
• Selma - Producers: Christian Colson, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Oprah Winfrey
• Whiplash - Producers: Jason Blum, Helen Estabrook, David Lancaster, Michael Litvak

Best Director

• Damien Chazelle – Whiplash
• Ava Duvernay – Selma
• Alejandro G. Iñárritu – Birdman Or (The Unexpected Virtue Of Ignorance)
• Winner: Richard Linklater – Boyhood
• David Zellner – Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter

Best Screenplay

• Scott Alexander, Larry Karaszewski – Big Eyes
• JC Chandor – A Most Violent Year
• Winner: Dan Gilroy – Nightcrawler
• Jim Jarmusch – Only Lovers Left Alive
• Ira Sachs, Mauricio Zacharias – Love Is Strange

Best First Feature (Award given to the director and producer)

• A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night - Director: Ana Lily Amirpour
Producers: Justin Begnaud, Sina Sayyah
• Dear White People - Director/Producer: Justin Simien Producers: Effie T. Brown, Ann Le, Julia Lebedev, Angel Lopez, Lena Waithe
• Winner: Nightcrawler - Director: Dan Gilroy Producers: Jennifer Fox, Tony Gilroy, Jake Gyllenhaal, David Lancaster, Michel Litvak
• Obvious Child - Director: Gillian Robespierre Producer: Elisabeth Holm
• She’s Lost Control - Director/Producer: Anja Marquardt Producers: Mollye Asher, Kiara C. Jones

Best First Screenplay

• Desiree Akhavan – Appropriate Behavior
• Sara Colangelo – Little Accidents
• Justin Lader – The One I Love
• Anja Marquardt – She’s Lost Control
• Winner: Justin Simien – Dear White People

Best Male Lead

• André Benjamin – Jimi: All Is By My Side
• Jake Gyllenhaal – Nightcrawler
• Winner: Michael Keaton - Birdman Or (The Unexpected Virtue Of Ignorance)
• John Lithgow – Love Is Strange
• David Oyelowo – Selma

Best Female Lead

• Marion Cotillard – The Immigrant
• Rinko Kikuchi – Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter
• Winner: Julianne Moore – Still Alice
• Jenny Slate – Obvious Child
• Tilda Swinton – Only Lovers Left Alive

Best Supporting Male

• Riz Ahmed – Nightcrawler
• Ethan Hawke – Boyhood
• Alfred Molina – Love Is Strange
• Edward Norton – Birdman Or (The Unexpected Virtue Of Ignorance)
• Winner: JK Simmons – Whiplash

Best Supporting Female

• Winner: Patricia Arquette – Boyhood
• Jessica Chastain – A Most Violent Year
• Carmen Ejogo – Selma
• Andrea Suarez Paz - Stand Clear Of The Closing Doors
• Emma Stone – Birdman Or (The Unexpected Virtue Of Ignorance)

John Cassavetes Award (Award given to the best feature made for under $500,000; award given to the writer, director and producer)

• Blue Ruin - Writer/Director: Jeremy Saulnier; Producers: Richard Peete, Vincent Savino, Anish Savjani

• It Felt Like Love - Writer/Director/Producer: Eliza Hittman; Producers: Shrihari Sathe, Laura Wagner
• Winner: Land Ho! - Writers/Directors: Aaron Katz, Martha Stephens; Producers: Christina Jennings, Mynette Louie, Sara Murphy
• Man From Reno - Writer/Director: Dave Boyle; Writers: Joel Clark, Michael Lerman; Producer: Ko Mori
• Test Writer/Director/Producer: Chris Mason Johnson; Producer: Chris Martin

Best Cinematography

• Darius Khondji – The Immigrant
• Winner: Emmanuel Lubezki – Birdman Or (The Unexpected Virtue Of Ignorance)
• Sean Porter – It Felt Like Love
• Lyle Vincent – A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night
• Bradford Young – Selma

Best Editing

• Sandra Adair – Boyhood
• Winner: Tom Cross – Whiplash
• John Gilroy – Nightcrawler
• Ron Patane – A Most Violent Year
• Adam Wingard – The Guest

Best International Film

• Force Majeure (Sweden) - Director: Ruben Östlund
• Winner: Ida (Poland) - Director: Pawel Pawlikowski
• Leviathan (Russia) - Director: Andrey Zvyagintsev
• Mommy (Canada) - Director: Xavier Dolan
• Norte, The End Of History (Philippines) - Director: Lav Diaz
• Under The Skin (United Kingdom) - Director: Jonathan Glazer

Best Documentary (Award given to director and producer)

• 20,000 Days On Earth - Directors: Iain Forsyth, Jane Pollard; Producers: Dan Bowen, James Wilson
• Winner: Citizenfour - Director/Producer: Laura Poitras; Producers: Mathilde Bonnefoy, Dirk Wilutzky
• Stray Dog - Director: Debra Granik; Producer: Anne Rosellini
• The Salt Of The Earth - Directors: Juliano Ribeiro Salgado, Wim Wenders; Producer: David Rosier
• Virunga - Director/Producer: Orlando Von Einsiedel; Producer: Joanna Natasegara

Robert Altman Award (Award Given To One director, casting director and ensemble cast)

• Inherent Vice - Director: Paul Thomas Anderson; Casting Director: Cassandra Kulukundis; Ensemble Cast: Josh Brolin, Hong Chau, Martin Donovan, Jena Malone, Joanna Newsom, Joaquin Phoenix, Sasha Pieterse, Eric Roberts, Maya Rudolph, Martin Short, Serena Scott Thomas, Benicio Del Toro, Katherine Waterston, Owen Wilson, Reese Witherspoon, Michael Kenneth Williams

Special Distinction Award

• Foxcatcher - Director/Producer: Bennett Miller; Writers: E. Max Frye, Dan Futterman; Producer: Anthony Bregman, Megan Ellison, Jon Kilik; Cast: Steve Carell, Mark Ruffalo, Channing Tatum

Related features about the winning films:

• Interview with Paul Eenhoorn and Earl Lynn Nelson about Land Ho!
• Boyhood at Sundance
• New York premiere of Boyhood
• Wash Westmoreland on Still Alice, part 1 and part 2

• Interview with Pawel Pawlikowski about Ida