Quinceañera, Sunshine win at Spirit Awards

Alan Cumming and the makers of Quinceanera beat the competition at the Independent Spirit Awards last week to take home top prizes in their categories.

Best First Feature went to Sweet Land, coproduced by Cumming, James Bingham, and director Ali Selim. Quinceanera won the coveted John Cassavetes Award, which honors films made for under $500,000.

Best Feature went to the oddball family comedy Little Miss Sunshine, of which Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris also won for their direction. Michael Arndt took the Best First Screenplay award for the film. He also won an Academy Award for the screenplay.

The Best Leading Actor and Actress awards went to Shareeka Epps and Ryan Gosling, both of whom starred in Half Nelson. (The Advocate)