'Everything Everywhere All at Once' was the big winner at the Independent Spirit Awards on Saturday (04.03.23), taking home seven prizes.
Michelle Yeoh at the Independent Spirit Awards
The martial arts fantasy scooped the night's top prize, for Best Feature, ahead of 'Bones and All', 'Our Father, the Devil', 'Tar', and 'Women Talking', and there were also wins for Michelle Yeoh, who scooped Best Lead Performance, Ke Huy Quan, who took home Best Supporting Performance, and Stephanie Hsu for Best Breakthrough performance, as well as The Daniels in the Best Director and Best Screenplay categories, and Best Editing for Paul Rogers.
Accepting her prize at the ceremony on Santa Monica beach, Michelle dedicated her win to "all our mothers".
She said: “I want to dedicate this to all our mothers. Without our mothers, none of us would be here. And to all the ladies [who] are sitting at that table who support their husbands.
"Thank you all for believing in us, and giving us a seat at the table and [thank you to] all the little girls, boys, who look like us and think that it is possible.”
Elsewhere, Best First Feature went to 'Aftersun', which was shortlisted alongside 'Emily the Criminal', 'The Inspection', 'Murina', and 'Palm Trees and Power Lines', while the John Cassavetes Award - which is presented to the best feature made for under $1 million - was given to 'The Cathedral'.
Meanwhile, in the TV categories, 'The Bear' beat off competition from 'Pachinko', 'The Porter', 'Severance' and 'Station Eleven' to be named Best New Scripted Series, and there was also a win for Ayo Edibiri in the Best Supporting Performance in a New Scripted Series category thanks to her work on the show.
The stars of 'Pachinko' took home Best Ensemble Cast in a New Scripted Series and 'Abbot Elementary' actress and creator Quinta Brunson's work on 'Abbott Elementary' secured her victory in the Best Lead Performance in a New Scripted Series honour.
Quinta dedicated her award to aspiring creatives.
She said: "I’m very used to making Instagram videos with nothing with my phone.
"I do want to dedicate this award to whatever kid out there right now is making a video on TikTok and the rest of the kids are telling them that you’re probably never gonna win an award anywhere.
"If you care about it enough and you respect the craft and the craft is important to you and you believe in it and you study it, that little TikTok video. … I hope that you know that with enough care for your craft, you can make it to win an award. So thank you guys so much.”
This marked the first year the awards in the performance categories were gender neutral, something which Quinta praised in her speech.
She said: “What a wonderful category to be in. I mean, just actors and actresses that are incredible. I kind of like the gender-neutral thing. It’s like, it’s kind of tight. It’s like, hell yeah … in there with your peers.”
Independent Spirit Awards list of winners:
MOVIES
Best Feature:
'Everything Everywhere All at Once:
Best First Feature:
'Aftersun'
John Cassavetes Award:
'The Cathedral'
Best Director:
Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert - 'Everything Everywhere All at Once'
Best Screenplay:
Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert - 'Everything Everywhere All at Once'
Best First Screenplay:
John Patton Ford - 'Emily the Criminal'
Best Lead Performance:
Michelle Yeoh - 'Everything Everywhere All at Once'
Best Supporting Performance:
Ke Huy Quan - 'Everything Everywhere All at Once'
Best Breakthrough Performance:
Stephanie Hsu - 'Everything Everywhere All at Once'
Best Cinematography:
Florian Hoffmeister - 'Tár'
Best Editing:
Paul Rogers, 'Everything Everywhere All at Once'
Robert Altman Award:
'Women Talking'
Best Documentary:
'All the Beauty and the Bloodshed'
Best International Film:
'Joyland'
Producers Award:
Tory Lenosky
Someone to Watch Award:
Nikyatu Jusu, 'Nanny'
Truer Than Fiction Award:
Reid Davenport - 'I Didn't See You There'
TELEVISION
Best New Scripted Series:
'The Bear'
Best Ensemble Cast in a New Scripted Series:
Pachinko
Best New Non-Scripted or Documentary Series:
'The Rehearsal'
Best Lead Performance in a New Scripted Series:
Quinta Brunson - 'Abbott Elementary'
Best Supporting Performance in a New Scripted Series:
Ayo Edibiri - 'The Bear'
Tagged in Michelle Yeoh