The documentary “No Other Land,” the FX series “Shōgun” and Jesse Eisenberg's film “A Real Pain” won several big awards at the 40th Film Independent Spirit Awards on Saturday. The annual ceremony held in a beachside tent in Santa Monica, California, is the shaggier, more irreverent sister to the Academy Awards, celebrating the best in independent film and television. This year, with “Anora” among its top nominees, it could serve as a preview for Oscar night next Sunday.
Kieran Culkin, considered an Oscar favorite, won the supporting performance award for “A Real Pain.” Culkin was not there to accept — he also missed his BAFTA win last weekend to tend to a family member — but other Oscar nominees like Mikey Madison, Demi Moore, Sebastian Stan and Colman Domingo were in attendance. Host Aidy Bryant called it “Hollywood’s third or fourth biggest night,” returning to host the proceedings for the second year.
“It has been a great year for film and a bad year for human life,” Bryant said. The “Saturday Night Live” alum kicked off the event ribbing some of the nominees, like Emma Stone. “Emma was a producer on four nominated projects tonight,” Bryant said.
“But even more importantly, her hair is short now.” Stone also featured prominently in Eisenberg’s speech, when he picked up the best screenplay prize for “A Real Pain.” Since they met on the set of “Zombieland” in 2009, he said, she’s been supportive of his writing despi.
