- By Chelsea Bailey
- BBC News, Washington
Daniel Kwan collected the award and told the audience it was time to “dream really big”
Everything Everywhere Everything at Once swept into the Independent Spirit Awards on Saturday, taking home wins in nearly every major category and solidifying its Oscar front-runner status.
The kinetic, multiverse-spanning family opus won numerous awards, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Editing.
Comedian Hasan Minhaj hosted the star-studded event live from Santa Monica Beach, California. The annual awards ceremony honors the best in independent film and television.
This year, for the first time in the award’s 37-year history, the Best Actor categories were all gender-neutral.
Minhaj kicked off the night with a hilarious and at times barbed dig at the nominees and the film industry. At one point, he bothered actress Cate Blanchett so much that she crawled under the table.
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Actor Ke Huy Quan took home the first award of the night for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Everything Everywhere.
Quan, who has spent much of his career working behind the scenes, used his speech to praise the often unsung crew members, from the boom operators to stunt coordinators, who make movies possible.
Later, Michelle Yeoh won for Best Actress in a Motion Picture and Stephanie Hsu took off her shoes to run on stage to accept the award for Best Breakthrough Performance.
“This is my first ever individual award, and it feels incredibly fitting that it’s in this room,” Hsu said.
It was also a big night for first-time nominees. Ayo Edebiri won Best Motion Picture Performance in a New Scripted Series for his role in “The Bear.”
Actress Sheryl Lee Ralph, who was also nominated in the same category, later reflected on her how she spent much of her early career begging Hollywood to diversify.
“I stand here tonight having lost Best Supporting Actress in Television to Ayo,” Ms Ralph said. “I can honestly say that this is what change looks like.”
image source, Getty Images
Filmmaker Reid Davenport called on Hollywood to allow disabled artists to tell their stories.
By far one of the most compelling moments of the night was when filmmaker Reid Davenport won the “Truer than Fiction” award. Davenport’s film, I Didn’t See You There, charts his everyday life as someone who navigates the world in a wheelchair due to his disability.
“There are so many disabled artists trying to get into this industry who don’t get a chance,” Mr Davenport said. “I humbly ask you to let them in. It’s about time.” Davenport said.
Independent Spirit Awards: The big winners
Best feature – Everything everywhere at once
Best Lead Performance — Michelle Yeoh, Everything Everywhere All at Once
Best Supporting Performance – Ke Huy Quan, Everything Everywhere at Once
Best Director – Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, Everything Everywhere at Once
Best Screenplay – Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, Everything Everywhere at Once
Best Documentary – All the Beauty and the Bloodshed
Best International Film – Joyland
Best first feature – Aftersun
Best First Screenplay – John Patton Ford, “Emily the Criminal”
The Robert Altman Award – Women Speak Out