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2008-02-25

by John Esther

Independent Spirit Awards 2008

Summary

In the spirit of conservative cinema

Article

The worst year for nominations and winners in the past five years, the 23rd Annual Independent Spirit Awards proved that alternative filmmaking or thinking are not always a good thing.

Set annually on the day before the Oscars in Santa Monica, Ca. this year the so-called alternative voices of filmmakers and filmgoers went conservative, voting the socially irresponsible, pro-life, romanticized teen-pregnancy comedy Juno for Best Picture, Best Actress (Ellen Page) and Best First Screenplay (Diablo Cody).

Less disconcerting but still disappointing, the mediocre family drama The Savages picked up Best Actor (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and Best Screenplay (Tamara Jenkins), while an unremarkable The Lookout won Best First Feature, Ireland’s vacant Once took home Best Foreign Film, and the dismal Crazy Love was awarded Best Documentary in a year where one could name many better documentaries (such as the Oscar-winning Taxi to the Dark Side) that independent voters did not even nominate.

Although the magnificent The Diving Bell and the Butterfly won Best Director (Julian Schnabel) and Best Cinematographer (Janusz Kaminski) deservedly won, those were politically safe choices.

The one thing this year’s awards certainly did get right was awarding Todd Haynes’ excellent Bob Dylan biopic I’m Not There with the Robert Altman Award, which goes to the best directed, cast ensemble.