Film Independent Spirit Awards 2012

With another awards show naming its honorees, the 2012 Film Independent's Spirit Awards took place in Santa Monica, California on Saturday afternoon (February 25).

Hosted by Seth Rogen, the star-studded beachfront ceremony's big winner was the French film "The Artist" - which took home four trophies including the top prize of Best Feature.

Opening up the ceremony, Rogen jokingly discussed why awards season is a must-have, as he said, "Without awards season we wouldn't know what a bigot Brett Ratner was," which referred to the filmmaker's anti-gay slur made last year while he was producing the Academy Awards.

Meanwhile, triumphant moments saw "My Week with Marilyn" leading lady Michelle Williams garner yet another Best Actress trophy for her growing collection while Jean Dujardin was doted with Best Actor accolades for his work in "The Artist".

With Shailene Woodley and Christopher Plummer nabbing supporting role trophies, the complete list of 2012 Film Independent Spirit Awards winners is as follows:

BEST FEATURE
50/50 Producers: Evan Goldberg, Ben Karlin, Seth Rogen
Beginners Producers: Miranda de Pencier, Lars Knudsen, Leslie Urdang, Dean Vanech, Jay Van Hoy
Drive Producers: Michel Litvak, John Palermo, Marc Platt, Gigi Pritzker, Adam Siegel
Take Shelter Producers: Tyler Davidson, Sophia Lin
WINNER: The Artist Producer: Thomas Langmann
The Descendants Producers: Jim Burke, Alexander Payne, Jim Taylor

BEST DIRECTOR
WINNER: Michel Hazanavicius The Artist
Mike Mills Beginners
Jeff Nichols Take Shelter
Alexander Payne The Descendants
Nicolas Winding Refn Drive

BEST SCREENPLAY
Joseph Cedar Footnote
Michel Hazanavicius The Artist
Tom McCarthy Win Win
Mike Mills Beginners
WINNER: Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash The Descendants

BEST FIRST FEATURE
Another Earth Director: Mike Cahill
Producers: Mike Cahill, Hunter Gray, Brit Marling, Nicholas Shumaker
In the Family Director: Patrick Wang
Producers: Robert Tonino, Andrew van den Houten, Patrick Wang
WINNER: Margin Call Director: J.C. Chandor
Producers: Robert Ogden Barnum, Michael Benaroya, Neal Dodson, Joe Jenckes, Corey Moosa, Zachary Quinto
Martha Marcy May Marlene Director: Sean Durkin
Producers: Antonio Campos, Patrick Cunningham, Chris Maybach, Josh Mond
Natural Selection Director: Robbie Pickering
Producers: Brion Hambel, Paul Jensen

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Mike Cahill, Brit Marling Another Earth
J.C. Chandor Margin Call
Patrick deWitt Terri
Phil Johnston Cedar Rapids
WINNER: Will Reiser 50/50

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD
Bellflower Writer/Director: Evan Glodell
Producers: Evan Glodell, Vincent Grashaw
Circumstance Writer/Director: Maryam Keshavarz
Producers: Karin Chien, Maryam Keshavarz, Melissa M. Lee
Hello Lonesome Writer/Director/Producer: Adam Reid
WINNER: Pariah Writer/Director: Dee Rees
Producer: Nekisa Cooper
The Dynamiter Writer: Brad Inglesby
Director: Matthew Gordon
Producers: Kevin Abrams, Matthew Gordon, Merilee Holt, Art Jones, Mike Jones, Nate Tuck, Amile Wilson

BEST FEMALE LEAD
Lauren Ambrose Think of Me
Rachael Harris Natural Selection
Adepero Oduye Pariah
Elizabeth Olsen Martha Marcy May Marlene
WINNER: Michelle Williams My Week with Marilyn

BEST MALE LEAD
Demián Bichir A Better Life
WINNER: Jean Dujardin The Artist
Ryan Gosling Drive
Woody Harrelson Rampart
Michael Shannon Take Shelter

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
Jessica Chastain Take Shelter
Anjelica Huston 50/50
Janet McTeer Albert Nobbs
Harmony Santana Gun Hill Road
WINNER: Shailene Woodley The Descendants

BEST SUPPORTING MALE
Albert Brooks Drive
John Hawkes Martha Marcy May Marlene
WINNER: Christopher Plummer Beginners
John C. Reilly Cedar Rapids
Corey Stoll Midnight in Paris

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Joel Hodge Bellflower
Benjamin Kasulke The Off Hours
Darius Khondji Midnight in Paris
WINNER: Guillaume Schiffman The Artist
Jeffrey Waldron The Dynamiter

BEST DOCUMENTARY
An African Election Director/Producer: Jarreth Merz
Bill Cunningham New York Director: Richard Press
Producer: Philip Gefter
WINNER: The Interrupters Director/Producer: Steve James
Producer: Alex Kotlowitz
The Redemption of General Butt Naked Director/Producers: Eric Strauss, Daniele Anastasion
We Were Here Director/Producer: David Weissman

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
WINNER: A Separation
(Iran) Director: Asghar Farhadi
Melancholia
(Denmark/Sweden/France/Germany) Director: Lars von Trier
Shame
(UK) Director: Steve McQueen
The Kid With a Bike
(Belgium/France/Italy) Directors: Jean-Pierre Dardenne, Luc Dardenne
Tyrannosaur
(UK) Director: Paddy Considine

PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD
Chad Burris Mosquita y Mari
WINNER: Sophia Lin Take Shelter
Josh Mond Martha Marcy May Marlene

SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD
Simon Arthur Silver Tongues
WINNER: Mark Jackson Without
Nicholas Ozeki Mamitas

TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD
WINNER: Where Soldiers Come From
Hell and Back Again
Bombay Beach

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD
WINNER: Margin Call Director: J.C. Chandor
Casting Director: Tiffany Little Canfield, Bernard Telsey
Ensemble Cast: Penn Badgley, Simon Baker, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Mary McDonnell, Demi Moore, Zachary Quinto, Kevin Spacey, Stanley Tucci