The Wrestler wins big at The Spirit Awards

Fox Searchlight’s The Wrestler was named best feature at the 2009 Film Independent’s Spirit Awards, which was held on Saturday in an open-air tent on the beach in Santa Monica, California. The film also won a Best Male Lead trophy for Mickey Rourke, as well as Best cinematography for Maryse Alberti.

The show aired live on IFC, with an edited follow-up version on AMC at 10 p.m.

Below is a complete list of 2009 Film Independent’s Spirit Awards’ nominees, with winners in bold.

Best feature
Ballast
Frozen River
Rachel Getting Married
Wendy and Lucy
The Wrestler

Best director
Ramin Bahrani, Chop Shop
Jonathan Demme, Rachel Getting Married
Lance Hammer, Ballast
Courtney Hunt, Frozen River
Tom McCarthy, The Visitor

Best first feature
Afterschool, Antonio Campos, Sean Durkin, Josh Mond
Medicine for Melancholy, Barry Jenkins, Justin Barber
Sangre de mi sangre, Christopher Zalla, Per Melita, Benjamin Odell
Sleep Dealer, Alex Rivera, Anthony Bregman
Synecdoche, New York, Charlie Kaufman, Anthony Bregman, Spike Jonze, Sidney Kimmel

John Cassavetes Award (films less than $500,000)
In Search of a Midnight Kiss, Alex Holdridge, Seth Caplan, Scoot McNairy
Prince of Broadway, Sean Baker, Darren Dean
The Signal, David Bruckner, Dan Bush, Jacob Gentry, Alexander Motlagh
Take Out, Sean Baker, Shih-Ching Tsou
Turn the River, Chris Eigeman, Ami Armstrong

Best screenplay
Woody Allen, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck, Sugar
Charlie Kaufman, Synecdoche, New York
Howard A. Rodman, Savage Grace
Christopher Zalla, Sangre de mi sangre

Best first screenplay
Dustin Lance Black, Milk
Lance Hammer, Ballast
Courtney Hunt, Frozen River
Jonathan Levine, The Wackness
Jenny Lumet, Rachel Getting Married

Best female lead
Summer Bishil, Towelhead
Anne Hathaway, Rachel Getting Married
Melissa Leo, Frozen River
Tarra Riggs, Ballast
Michelle Williams, Wendy and Lucy

Best male lead
Javier Bardem, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Richard Jenkins, The Visitor
Sean Penn, Milk
Jeremy Renner, The Hurt Locker
Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler

Best supporting female
Penelope Cruz, Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Rosemarie DeWitt, Rachel Getting Married
Rosie Perez, The Take
Misty Upham, Frozen River
Debra Winger, Rachel Getting Married

Best supporting male
James Franco, Milk
Anthony Mackie, The Hurt Locker
Charlie McDermott, Frozen River
Jim Myron Ross, Ballast
Haaz Sleiman, The Visitor

Best foreign film
The Class
Gomorrah
Hunger
Secret of the Grain
Silent Light

Best documentary
The Betrayal
Encounters at the End of the World
Man on Wire
The Order of Myths
Up the Yangtze

Best cinematography
Maryse Alberti, The Wrestler
Lol Crawley, Ballast
James Laxton, Medicine for Melancholy
Harris Savides, Milk
Michael Simmonds, Chop Shop

Robert Altman Award (filmmaker, casting director and acting ensemble)
Synecdoche, New York, Charlie Kaufman (director), Jeanne McCarthy (casting director), Hope Davis, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Catherine Keener, Samantha Morton, Tom Noonan, Emily Watson, Dianne Wiest, Michelle Williams

Piaget Producers Award (emerging producers)
Lars Knudsen and Jay Van Hoy, Treeless Mountain, I’ll Come Running
Jason Orans, Goodbye Solo, Year of the Fish
Heather Rae, Frozen River, Ibid

Acura Someone to Watch Award (emerging actor)
Barry Jenkins, Medicine for Melancholy
Nina Paley, Sita Sings the Blues
Lynn Shelton, My Effortless Brilliance

Lacoste Truer Than Fiction Award (emerging nonfiction director)
Margaret Brown, The Order of Myths
Sacha Gervasi, Anvil! The Story of Anvil
Darius Marder, Loot