<i> Before Night Falls, Chuck & Buck </i>score at Spirit Awards (5436)

The Independent Feature Project/West held its 16th annual Independent Spirit Awards on Saturday, honoring a broad cross section of independent films from around the world. Javier Bardem was honored as Best Male Lead for his acclaimed performance as gay Cuban poet Reinaldo Arenas in Before Night Falls, and the quirky gay stalker comedy Chuck & Buck won Best Feature Under $500,000. (Accepting the award, writer-star Mike White joked that a stranger had recently walked up to him on the street and told him that Chuck & Buck was "the worst movie I've ever seen." Now that he had the award, quipped White, "I can say, 'Well, maybe not the worst.' ") Documentary filmmakers David Shapiro and Laurie Gwen Shapiro won the DirectTV/IFC Truer Than Fiction award for Keep the River on Your Right: A Modern Cannibal Tale, which told of the exploits of gay explorer Tobias Schneebaum, who turned 80 the day of the awards ceremony. Winners at the 16th annual IFP/West Independent Spirit Awards include:

Best Feature: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Best Director: Ang Lee, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Best Screenplay: Kenneth Lonergan, You Can Count on Me
Best First Feature:You Can Count on Me
Best First Screenplay: Gina Prince-Bythewood, Love & Basketball
Best Feature Under $500,000: Chuck & Buck
Best Debut Performance: Michelle Rodriguez, Girlfight
Best Female Lead: Ellen Burstyn, Requiem for a Dream
Best Male Lead: Javier Bardem, Before Night Falls
Best Supporting Female: Zhang Ziyi, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
Best Supporting Male: Willem Dafoe, Shadow of the Vampire
Best Cinematographer: Matthew Libatique, Requiem for a Dream
Best Foreign Film:Dancer in the Dark
Best Documentary:Dark Days
Movado Someone to Watch Award: Marc Forster, Everything Put Together
DirectTV/IFC Truer Than Fiction Award: David Shapiro and Laurie Gwen Shapiro, Keep the River on Your Right: A Modern Cannibal Tale
Motorola Producers Award: Paul S. Mezey, The Ballad of Ramblin' Jack and Spring Forward