2016 Spirit Awards
Written by: FFT Webmaster | February 28th, 2016

“Spotlight” took home top honors at the 2016 Spirit Awards, winning best feature, best director, best screenplay, best editing and best ensemble. Below find a complete list of the afternoon’s winners:
Best Feature
- Anomalisa
- Beasts of No Nation
- Carol
- Spotlight — WINNER
- Tangerine
Best Director
- Sean Baker, Tangerine
- Cary Joji Fukunaga, Beasts of No Nation
- Todd Haynes, Carol
- Charlie Kaufman & Duke Johnson, Anomalisa
- Tom McCarthy, Spotlight — WINNER
- David Robert Mitchell, It Follows
Best Screenplay
- Charlie Kaufman, Anomalisa
- Donald Margulies, The End of the Tour
- Phyllis Nagy, Carol
- Tom McCarthy & Josh Singer, Spotlight — WINNER
- S. Craig Zahler, Bone Tomahawk
Best First Feature
- The Diary of a Teenage Girl — WINNER
- James White
- Manos Sucias
- Mediterranea
- Songs My Brothers Taught Me
Best First Screenplay
- Jesse Andrews, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
- Jonas Carpignano, Mediterranea
- Emma Donoghue, Room — WINNER
- Marielle Heller, The Diary of a Teenage Girl
- John Magary, Russell Harbaugh, Myna Joseph, The Mend
Best Male Lead
- Christopher Abbott, James White
- Abraham Attah, Beasts of No Nation — WINNER
- Ben Mendelsohn, Mississippi Grind
- Jason Segel, The End of the Tour
- Koudous Seihon, Mediterranea
Best Female Lead
- Cate Blanchett, Carol
- Brie Larson, Room — WINNER
- Rooney Mara, Carol
- Bel Powley, The Diary of A Teenage Girl
- Kitana Kiki Rodriguez, Tangerine
Best Supporting Male
- Kevin Corrigan, Results
- Paul Dano, Love & Mercy
- Idris Elba, Beasts of No Nation — WINNER
- Richard Jenkins, Bone Tomahawk
- Michael Shannon, 99 Homes
Best Supporting Female
- Robin Bartlett, H.
- Marin Ireland, Glass Chin
- Jennifer Jason Leigh, Anomalisa
- Cynthia Nixon, James White
- Mya Taylor, Tangerine — WINNER
Best Documentary
- (T)error
- Best of Enemies
- Heart of a Dog
- The Look of Silence — WINNER
- Meru
- The Russian Woodpecker
Best International Film
- A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence
- Embrace of the Serpent
- Girlhood
- Mustang
- Son of Saul — WINNER
Best Cinematography
- Beasts of No Nation
- Carol — WINNER
- It Follows
- Meadlowland
- Songs My Brothers Taught Me
Best Editing
- Heaven Knows What
- It Follows
- Manos Sucias
- Room
- Spotlight — WINNER
John Cassavetes Award (Best Feature Under $500,000)
- Advantageous
- Christmas, Again
- Heaven Knows What
- Krisha — WINNER
- Out of My Hand
Robert Altman Award (Best Ensemble)
- Spotlight
Kiehl’s Someone to Watch Award
- Chloe Zhao
- Felix Thompson — WINNER
- Robert Machoian & Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck
Piaget Producers Award
- Darren Dean
- Mel Eslyn — WINNER
- Rebecca Green and Laura D. Smith