“Birdman” wins big at Independent Spirit Awards

“Birdman,” directed by Mexico’s Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu, was the big winner at the 30th edition of the Independent Spirit Awards on the weekend, walking away with three trophies and beating out its main Oscar rival, “Boyhood.”

The film, in which a veteran actor is trying to resuscitate his career by staging a Broadway show, won the Best Feature award, and its star, Michael Keaton, won Best Male Lead, while Mexican Emmanuel Lubezki took the prize for Best Cinematography.

Winning the award for Best Director, however, was Richard Linklater who did not attend the ceremony for “Boyhood.”

Iñarritu, smiling the whole evening, became emotional upon receiving his award, which he dedicated to his family, praising his filmmaking team and the distributors of “Birdman” for making the film a success.

“Birdman” and “Boyhood” will once again go head to head for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Cinematography and Best Director at the Academy Awards on Sunday night.

Other winners at the Saturday night gala were Julianne Moore (“Still Alice”), Patricia Arquette (“Boyhood”) and J.K. Simmons (“Whiplash”) in the Best Female Lead, Best Supporting Female and Best Supporting Male categories, respectively.

“Boyhood” won two awards (Best Director, Best Supporting Female) along with “Nightcrawler (Best Screenplay, Best First Feature) and “Whiplash” (Best Supporting Male, Best Editing).

Fred Armisen and Kristen Bell hosted the ceremony, and Mexico’s Diego Luna and actresses Cate Blanchett, Emma Stone, Scarlett Johanson and Jessica Chastain were among the presenters. EFE