Diversity winner at Spirit Awards
The 31st Independent Film Spirit Awards provided a clear rebuke to the less-diverse Oscars, bestowing awards on “Beasts of No Nation” co-stars Idris Elba and Abraham Attah and “Tangerine” star Mya Taylor, making her the first transgender actress to win at the annual awards.
“Spotlight” was the big winner at the Spirits on Saturday. Tom McCarthy’s drama about the Boston Globe investigation into sex abuse by Catholic priests won a leading four awards, including best picture, best director for McCarthy, best screenplay and the Robert Altman Award for ensemble.
But this year’s Spirit Awards, an annual dresseddown indie antidote to the Oscars, was most remarkable for its more diverse nominees and winners. Neither Elba, Attah nor Taylor was even nominated for Oscars. Each drew hearty applause.
“There is very beautiful transgender talent,” said Taylor, who won best supporting actress for playing a Los Angeles sex worker in the iPhone-shot “Tangerine.” “You better get out there and put it in your movie.”
In recent years, the Spirits have overlapped considerably with the Oscars. But this year, the Spirits — which honor films made for $20 million or less — widely deviated from their stuffier crosstown counterparts. “Spotlight” was the only Oscar best picture nominee up for the Spirits’ top award. And the Spirits boasted five nonwhite nominees out of 20. And three of them won.