Whale Rider bags best foreign film at indie awards

4.20pm

NZ drama Whale Rider has been awarded best foreign film at the Independent Spirit Awards, the arthouse world's equivalent of the Oscars.

Foreign films are eligible only for this category. The film's 13-year-old star, Keisha Castle-Hughes, was a surprise Oscar nominee for lead actress.

"Whale Rider is a template for an independent film, and so it's wonderful that the independent world is acknowledging it," writer/director Niki Caro said. "But it's gone so much wider than that now. And it's very satisfying to me that in a single weekend we can straddle both of those things."

Director Sofia Coppola, who emerged from her famous father's shadow last year with her movie Lost in Translation," was, however, the toast of the film world as the comedy won top prizes at the show.

Lost in Translation, Coppola's second film, won all four categories in which it was nominated: best feature, director, screenplay and male lead (Bill Murray).

Both Coppola and Murray will compete for Academy Awards tomorrow, as will the other three main acting winners, South African native Charlize Theron for Monster, Benin-born Djimon Hounsou for In America and Iran's Shohreh Aghdashloo for House of Sand and Fog.

The Spirit Awards honour films based on such criteria as original, provocative subject matter, budget and the degree of independent financing. The winners were announced during a leisurely luncheon underneath a marquee on Santa Monica Beach, a sharp contrast to the chaotic scene at the Oscars.

While both events historically share plenty of nominees, there is little crossover among the winners. Last year, only Michael Moore won both a Spirit Award and an Oscar, for his documentary Bowling for Columbine. The winner of this year's Spirit for documentary, The Fog of War director Errol Morris, will also vie for an Oscar.

Irish writer/director Jim Sheridan's In America, which led the Spirit nominees with nods in six categories, ended up with two prizes, supporting actor for Hounsou's turn as a dying artist, and cinematography for Declan Quinn.

Double winners included writer/director Patty Jenkins' Monster, which nabbed prizes for Theron's lead role as a serial killer and first feature; and writer/director Thomas McCarthy's The Station Agent for first screenplay and feature made for under US$500,000.

Coppola, the 32-year-old daughter of The Godfather director Francis Ford Coppola, has already won numerous prizes for Lost in Translation, including a Golden Globe and a Writers Guild of America Award. She will compete for three Oscars: director, the first American woman nominated in that category; best picture, with producer Ross Katz; and original screenplay.

The film, shot guerrilla-style without studio support, revolves around two mismatched Americans at loose ends in Tokyo, a disenchanted actor played by Murray and a confused young wife played by Scarlett Johansson.

Coppola managed to get her script to the famously elusive Murray, who agreed to star in it although he never signed a contract. To Coppola's relief, he turned up in Tokyo days before the fast-paced 27-day shoot began. Since opening in September, the film has earned more than US$43 million at the North American box office.

Other Spirit winners included 16-year-old Nikki Reed for best debut performance in the teen drama thirteen, a drama she co-wrote with the film's director, Catherine Hardwicke.

The Independent Spirit Awards, now in their 19th year, are organized by the West Coast arm of the Independent Film Project, a group that nurtures indie filmmaking.

- REUTERS

See more pictures from the Awards in our Oscars Picture Gallery


Visit nzherald.co.nz from midday tomorrow for:

* Pictures from the red carpet as the stars arrive.

* Continuous commentary, updating you on the winners, what they said and, of course, what they were wearing!

* Your list of nominees to help you keep track of all the results.