Indie Films That Ruled the Most Important Award Weekend

If Beale Street Could Talk and Roma had a triumphant weekend at both Independent Spirit Awards and Academy Awards.

Two very different award shows have wrapped up the movie award season this weekend: the Independent Spirit Awards celebrated alternative filmmaking on Saturday, and the prestigious Oscars were handed out on Sunday. Only two films shined at both shows: Roma and If Beale Street Could Talk, with more indies climbing all the way to the top even at the Oscars, which meant a fierce competition of big-budget features.

The year of Alfonso Cuarón

Roma was a deeply personal, intimate project for the Mexican director Alfonso Cuarón who looks back on his — often painful — childhood memories. “I think I wanted to understand, to put the pieces together,” he explained for Variety. Roma has gathered impressive 173 wins and 168 nominations throughout the award season, and it became the first Mexican winner of the Foreign Language Film category at the Academy Awards. Cuarón stood on the stage two more times: as the best director and cinematographer (he actually shot the movie himself!) Moreover, Roma was named the Best International Film at the Independent Spirit Awards.

Glenn Close vs. Olivia Colman

Glenn Close is undoubtedly a legend, with a number of unforgettable performances under her belt. Seven of them were Oscar-nominated, including the most recent one in The Wife, where she a played the wife of a Nobel Prize laureate who deserves the glory more than him. Quite unexpectedly, she wasn’t the one whose name was engraved on the statuette for the Actress in a Leading Role. Instead, the visibly shaken, moved and surprised Olivia Colman won for her brilliant portrayal of the frail, needy and childish Queen Anne in The Favourite. The British actress has even called her win “hilarious”! However, Glenn Close became the Best Female Lead at the Independent Spirit Awards, and she gracefully accepted the honor with her dog by her side.

Regina King is the queen!

It’s hard to believe that this was the first Oscar nomination for the veteran actress. She took over the whole award season with her supporting role in If Beale Street Could Talk with more than 30 wins, including the coveted Academy Award. If Beale Street Could Talk triumphed at the Independent Spirit Awards as well, with King taking home another award along with the director Barry Jenkins, while the movie was named the Best Feature.

Moments that made us happy

• Ecstatic Spike Lee has FINALLY received an Oscar for the adapted screenplay of BlacKkKlansman. He literally jumped into the arms of the presenter, his friend Samuel L. Jackson, and made both women and men cry during the speech dedicated to his ancestors, finished with hopeful: “Let’s do the right thing!” He even provoked Donald Trump to post one of his infamous tweets.

• Can You Ever Forgive Me? Didn’t turn any nominations into awards at the Oscars, but it did receive the nod for the Best Screenplay (Nicole Holofcener & Jeff Whitty) and Best Supporting Male (Richard E. Grant) at the Independent Spirit Awards.
• Many thought snubbing Ethan Hawke at the Oscars yet again is basically criminal, but the Independent Spirit Awards were another story: he got the Best Male Lead award for his portrayal of reverend Ernst Toller in First Reformed.

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