MAIN Arts & Culture Movies 2008 Spirit Awards

The Spirit Awards, formerly known as the Independent Spirit Awards, gives proper tribute to films produced on "shoestring" budgets.

Compared to the usual multi-million blockbuster, films in contention must come in under a paltry $20 million.

Nominees were announced on November 27, 2007 with major nods going to the Bob Dylan biopic "I'm Not There" and one of its co-stars, actress Cate Blanchett. Also up for Best Female Lead was Angelina Jolie for her riveting performance in "A Mighty Heart".

The Spirit Awards presentation aired live on IFC on February 23, 2008 at 5:00 p.m. ET, with an edited rebroadcast on AMC at 10:00 pm.

The Spirit Award nominations traditionally kick off a bevy of nominee announcements - such as the much more highly-awaited Golden Globes. But as they proved in 2006, the indie Spirit Awards can be a harbinger what's to come. That year, Spirit Award winners included "Brokeback Mountain" "Good Night, and Good Luck" and "Capote," each of which went on to win big at the major award shows.

Below, see the complete list of nominees and winners at this year's awards, and around the Web, learn more about the Spirit Awards at top sites featuring the latest news and predictions, related pictures and video clips, nominee profiles and complete TV schedule ...

Film Independent - The official sponsors of the Spirit Awards and the Los Angeles Film Festival with a searchable database of all past nominees and winners, pictures, video clips and trailers from 2007 nominees.

IFC - Spirit Awards - The official cable channel with TV schedule, a full list of nominees, plus official rules and entry details on the Short Film Contest.

Independent Spirit Awards - Wikipedia entry with brief details and Sprit Awards trivia with a complete list of Best Feature winners dating back to 1986.

Independent Spirit Awards - The Envelope.com - LA Times reports, pictures and feature stories on nominees and past winners, show details and related forum posts.

2008 Spirit Awards Nominees & * Winners

Best Feature
* Juno
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
I'm Not There
A Mighty Heart
Paranoid Park

Best Director
* Julian Schnabel, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Todd Haynes, I'm Not There
Tamara Jenkins, The Savages
Jason Reitman, Juno
Gus Van Sant, Paranoid Park

Best First Feature
* The Lookout
2 Days in Paris
Great World of Sound
Rocket Science
Vanaja

John Cassavetes Award
* August Evening
Owl and the Sparrow
The Pool
Quiet City
Shotgun Stories

Best Screenplay
* Tamara Jenkins, The Savages
Ronald Harwood, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Fred Parnes & Andrew Wagner, Starting Out in the Evening
Adrienne Shelly, Waitress
Mike White, Year of the Dog

Best First Screenplay
* Diablo Cody, Juno
Jeffrey Blitz, Rocket Science
Zoe Cassavetes, Broken English
Kelly Masterson, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead
John Orloff, A Mighty Heart

Best Female Lead
* Ellen Page, Juno
Angelina Jolie, A Mighty Heart
Sienna Miller, Interview
Parker Posey, Broken English
Tang Wei, Lust, Caution

Best Male Lead
* Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Savages
Pedro Castaneda, August Evening
Don Cheadle, Talk To Me
Frank Langella, Starting Out in the Evening
Tony Leung, Lust, Caution

Best Supporting Female
* Cate Blanchett, I'm Not There
Anna Kendrick, Rocket Science
Jennifer Jason Leigh, Margot at the Wedding
Tamara Podemski, Four Sheets to the Wind
Marisa Tomei, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

Best Supporting Male
* Chiwetel Ejiofor, Talk To Me
Marcus Carl Franklin, I'm Not There
Kene Holliday, Great World of Sound
Irrfan Khan, The Namesake
Steve Zahn, Rescue Dawn

Best Cinematography
* Janusz Kaminski, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Mott Hupfel, The Savages
Milton Kam, Vanaja
Mihai Malaimare, Jr., Youth Without Youth
Rodrigo Prieto, Lust, Caution

Best Documentary
* Crazy Love
Lake of Fire
Manufactured Landscapes
The Monastery
The Prisoner or: How I Planned to Kill Tony Blair

Best Foreign Film
* Once (Ireland)
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (Romania)
The Band's Visit (Israel)
Lady Chatterley (France)
Persepolis (France)

Robert Altman Award
* I'm Not There

also see -> Golden Globes | Oscar Awards | Sundance

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