Hey, Mickey, you're so fine

The road to the Oscars continued apace tonight, with Darren Aronofsky's The Wrestler, snagging the best award at the Film Independent Spirt Awards this evening.

The film about an ageing wrestler facing up to the prospect of retirement, also won Maryse Alberti the prize for best cinematography and saw Mickey Rourke add to his growing list of gongs for best actor.

The best directing honours, meanwhile, went to Tom McCarthy for his delicate, humanistic examination of illegal immigration in The Visitor, and veteran Woody Allen won the best screenplay gong.

His Vicky Cristina Barcelona - about two girls who find themselves romantically entwined with a Spanish painter - also won a best actress prize for Penelope Cruz.

Harvey Milk biopic, Milk, which like The Wrestler, is hoping for Oscar glory tomorrow, won the best supporting actor award for James Franco and best first screenplay for Dustin Lance Black.

In the documentary category, James Marsh's British documentary Man On Wire, continued to beat off all-comers, adding yet another award to its very large tally.

BEST FEATURE (Award given to the Producer)
Ballast - Producer: Lance Hammer, Nina Parikh
Frozen River - Producers: Chip Hourihan, Heather Rae
Rachel Getting Married - Producers: Jonathan Demme, Neda Armin, Marc Platt
Wendy And Lucy - Producer: Larry Fessenden, Neil Kopp, Anish Savjani
WINNER: The Wrestler - Producers: Darren Aronofsky, Scott Franklin

BEST DIRECTOR
Ramin Bahrani - Chop Shop
Jonathan Demme - Rachel Getting Married
Lance Hammer - Ballast
Courtney Hunt - Frozen River
WINNER: Tom McCarthy - The Visitor

BEST FIRST FEATURE (Award given to the director and producer)
Afterschool - Director: Antonio Campos; Producers: Sean Durkin, Josh Mond
Medicine For Melancholy - Director: Barry Jenkins; Producer: Justin Barber
Sangre De Mi Sangre - Director: Christopher Zalla; Producers: Per Melita, Benjamin Odell
Sleep Dealer - Director: Alex Rivera; Producer: Anthony Bregman
WINNER: Synecdoche, New York - Director: Charlie Kaufman; Producers: Anthony Bregman, Spike Jonze, Charlie Kaufman, Sidney Kimmel

BEST SCREENPLAY
WINNER: Woody Allen - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Anna Boden & Ryan Fleck - Sugar
Charlie Kaufman - Synecdoche, New York
Howard A Rodman Savage Grace
Christopher Zalla Sangre - De Mi Sangre

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD (Given to the best feature made for under $500,000; award given to the writer, director, and producer)
WINNER: In Search Of A Midnight Kiss - Writer/Director: Alex Holdridge; Producers: Seth Caplan, Scoot McNairy
Prince Of Broadway - Director: Sean Baker; Writers: Sean Baker, Darren Dean; Producer: Darren Dean
The Signal - Writer/Directors: David Bruckner, Dan Bush, Jacob Gentry; Producers: Jacob Gentry, Alexander Motlagh
Take Out - Writer/Director/Producers: Sean Baker, Shih-Ching Tsou
Turn The River - Writer/Director: Chris Eigeman; Producer: Ami Armstrong

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
WINNER: Dustin Lance Black - Milk
Lance Hammer - Ballast
Courtney Hunt - Frozen River
Jonathan Levine - The Wackness
Jenny Lumet - Rachel Getting Married

BEST FEMALE LEAD
Summer Bishil Towelhead
Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married
WINNER: Melissa Leo - Frozen River
Tarra Riggs - Ballast
Michelle Williams - Wendy And Lucy

BEST MALE LEAD
Javier Bardem - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Richard Jenkins - The Visitor
Sean Penn - Milk
Jeremy Renner - The Hurt Locker
WINNER: Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler

BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
WINNER:Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Rosemarie DeWitt - Rachel Getting Married
Rosie Perez - The Take
Misty Upham - Frozen River
Debra Winger - Rachel Getting Married

BEST SUPPORTING MALE
WINNER: James Franco - Milk
Anthony Mackie - The Hurt Locker
Charlie McDermott - Frozen River
JimMyron Ross Ballast
Haaz Sleiman - The Visitor

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
WINNER: Maryse Alberti - The Wrestler
Lol Crawley - Ballast
James Laxton - Medicine For Melancholy Harris Savides - Milk
Michael Simmonds - Chop Shop

BEST DOCUMENTARY (Award given to the director)
The Betrayal - Director: Ellen Kuras and Thavisouk Phrasavath
Encounters At The End Of The World - Director: Werner Herzog
WINNER: Man On Wire - Director: James Marsh
The Order Of Myths - Director: Margaret Brown
Up The Yangtze Director: Yung Chang

BEST FOREIGN FILM (Award given to the director)
WINNER: The Class (France) - Director: Laurent Cantet
Gomorrah (Italy) - Director: Matteo Garrone
Hunger (UK/Ireland) - Director: Steve McQueen
Secret Of The Grain (France) - Director: Abdellatif Kechiche
Silent Light (Mexico/France/Netherlands/Germany) - Director: Carlos Reygadas

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD
Synecdoche, New York - Director: Charlie Kaufman Casting Director: Jeanne McCarthy Ensemble Cast: Hope Davis, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Catherine Keener, Samantha Morton, Tom Noonan, Emily Watson, Dianne Wiest, Michelle Williams

SOMEONE TO WATCH
Barry Jenkins - Medicine for Melancholy
Nina Paley - Sita Sings the Blues
WINNER: Lynn Shelton - My Effortless Brilliance

TRUER THAN FICTION
WINNER: Margaret Brown - The Order of Myths
Sacha Gervasi - Anvil! The Story of Anvil
Darius Marder - Loot