For the past twelve years, the Independent Spirit Awards have been held the night before the Oscars, and although the two sets of nominees sometimes overlap, traditionally the Spirit Awards end up honouring most of the films that the Academy ignores. This year things might be a little bit different, however, as Michel Hazanavicius’ The Artist ended up taking home a handful of the major Spirit Awards including Best Feature, Best Director and Best Male Lead. As far as I know, the Spirit Awards and the Academy Awards have only picked the same Best Picture once before: Oliver Stone’s Platoon in 1986.

Christopher Plummer also won for Best Supporting Male, while Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn) won for Best Female Lead. Is this all a sign of what’s to come tomorrow night? There are at least a few Spirit Award winners who won’t be repeating at the Academy Awards: Shailene Woodley won Best Supporting Female for The Descendants, and Steve James was also recognized for his documentary The Interrupters but neither were nominated for an Oscar. Either way, at this point, it doesn’t seem like anything can stop The Artist. Check out the full list of Independent Spirit Award winners after the jump.

BEST FEATURE

• 50/50
• Beginners
• Drive
• Take Shelter
• The Artist
• The Descendants

BEST DIRECTOR

• 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)
• Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, Jim Rash (The Descendants)

BEST FIRST FEATURE

• Another Earth
• In the Family
• Margin Call
• Martha Marcy May Marlene
• Natural Selection

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY

• Mike Cahill, Brit Marling (Another Earth)
• J.C. Chandor (Margin Call)
• Patrick deWitt (Terri)
• Phil Johnston (Cedar Rapids)
• Will Reiser (50/50)

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD (Best feature made for under $500,000)

• Bellflower
• Circumstance
• Hello Lonesome
• Pariah
• The Dynamiter

BEST FEMALE LEAD

• Lauren Ambrose (Think of Me)
• Rachael Harris (Natural Selection)
• Adepero Oduye (Pariah)
• Elizabeth Olsen (Martha Marcy May Marlene)
• Michelle Williams (My Week with Marilyn)

BEST MALE LEAD

• Demián Bichir (A Better Life)
• 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)
• Shailene Woodley (The Descendants)

BEST SUPPORTING MALE

• Albert Brooks (Drive)
• John Hawkes (Martha Marcy May Marlene)
• 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)
• Guillaume Schiffman (The Artist)
• Jeffrey Waldron (The Dynamiter)

BEST DOCUMENTARY

• An African Election
• Bill Cunningham New York
• The Interrupters
• The Redemption of General Butt Naked
• We Were Here

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM

• A Separation (Iran)
• Melancholia (Denmark/Sweden/France/Germany)
• Shame (UK)
• The Kid With a Bike (Belgium/France/Italy)
• Tyrannosaur (UK)

PIAGET PRODUCERS AWARD

• Chad Burris (Mosquita y Mari)
• Sophia Lin (Take Shelter)
• Josh Mond (Martha Marcy May Marlene)

SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD

• Simon Arthur (Silver Tongues)
• Mark Jackson (Without)
• Nicholas Ozeki (Mamitas)

TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD

• Heather Courtney (Where Soldiers Come From)
• Danfung Dennis (Hell and Back Again)
• Alma Har’el (Bombay Beach)

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD

• Margin Call

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