‘The Dark Daughter’ sweeps the Independent Film Spirit Awards

Xavier Romualdo

Santa Monica (USA), March 6 (EFE). “The Dark Daughter,” a film about the lights and shadows of motherhood starring Olivia Colman, won the 37th Independent Film Spirit Awards.

The film, which Netflix received after its premiere at the Venice Film Festival, won the awards for Best Film, Best Screenplay and Best Direction for Maggie Gyllenhaal, which has taken to the stage three times, the last time it was awarded by the artist’s hand. Spaniard Javier Bardem.

Oddly though, Coleman—nominated for an Academy Award for the title role in this movie—didn’t win Best Actress because she couldn’t even be among the nominees.

Instead, the award went to Taylor Page, the star of “Zola,” one of the recent surprises of the American “indie” whose plot was inspired by a Twitter thread.

For his part, Simon Rex triumphed in the male category with the movie “Red Rocket”.

Known as the “Indy Academy Awards,” the Spirit Awards are best known for films with a budget under $22.5 million, which is pretty low by Hollywood studio standards but big for film industries in other countries.

“This is my first time at these awards and I’ve done a lot of independent films, so I understand that to get here you have to make a really good movie,” said Kristen Stewart, who attended the ceremony as ‘Honorary Chair’. I joked on stage. In full promotion of his Oscar nomination.

Sometimes spirits are a great Academy Awards thermometer. For example, “Nomadland” and “Moonlight” won that party days before they won Best Picture at the Academy Awards.

But this year they’ve embraced their independent spirit even more and none of the nominated films (“A Chiara,” “C” mon C “mon,” “The Lost Daughter,” “The Novice,” and “Zola”) will repeat at the Academy Awards. Hollywood.

KODA and DRIVE MY CAR, MOST POWERFUL for the Oscars

But the winners left some expectations.

Actor Troy Kotsur took home the award for best supporting performance for “CODA,” the film in which most actors are deaf and dumb, which last week won the star award at the SAG Awards.

The bar kept rising like foam at the Oscars for days, and KOTSUR practically achieved his status as a favourite.

“Producers are often frightened and wonder if there will be a market for a movie that has the nerve to choose deaf actors (…) Sometimes I feel like a bug on the ground. Now I’m a big bug,” the actor told the press after receiving the award.

In the international section, the Japanese film “Drive My Car” won the award for best foreign film, with the Spanish “Madres Paralelas” and the Mexican “Noche de Fuego” nominated.

But “Drive My Car,” parodying a story by writer Haruki Murakami, has higher sights: As with “Parasite,” the film also aspires to the statuette for Best Picture at the Academy Awards, and all of the above harvest in Hollywood translates to More voter support.

Another Oscar contender has won a musical documentary “Summer of Love,” to the tunes of Stevie Wonder and Nina Simone, reviewing the African-American festival held in New York during the summer of 1969 just a few kilometers from historic Woodstock.

Javier Bardem: “I want to express my support for Ukraine and for a peaceful solution”

Javier Bardem was the celebrity seen at the party, which took place on the beach in Santa Monica and had a more laid-back vibe than the rest of the gizmos surrounding the Hollywood awards season.

The Spaniard put the final touch on the ceremony by presenting the award for the best film.

But before that, the actor used the stage to refer to the war being waged on European soil after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“I want to express my support for Ukraine and for a diplomatic and peaceful solution to this situation,” he said to applause.

Stewart also dedicated speeches of support to the Ukrainian people and many of the attendees wore the blue and yellow of their flag. EFE

Romo / mg

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