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Spotlight shines at the Independent Spirit Awards

Winners show the diversity of talent the Oscars are missing.

by Jennie Kermode

Rachel McAdams, Michael Keaton and Mark Ruffalo in Spotlight.

Tom McCarthy's Spotlight, which has been overlooked for much of this year's awards season, finally shone tonight at the Independent Spirit Awards, winning in five categories including Best Film and Best Director. The film, which Vinyl star Bobby Cannavale described to us as "really honest," has been widely praised by critics but was a late entry into the race and nobody knew if it would break through before Oscar night - now, with just one day to go, it has indubitably made its mark.

There's now a strong possibility that the Oscars will be overshadowed by tonight's awards, which were more dynamic in every way, really keeping people guessing as to who would win. They also produced a diversity of winners that the Oscars, much criticised in that regard, could only dream of, with three of the four acting awards going to people of colour and one of them to a trans woman - a last minute moment in the spotlight for Tangerine, which has also fallen short of expectations in terms of the awards it has received.

The Independent Spirits are there to celebrate independent film and there were also well-earned awards for Beasts Of No Nation and Room. Overall, it was an event that seemed much more in tune with what critics worldwide are saying and, more importantly, with what audiences have been talking about.

Those awards in full:-

Best Feature