‘Spotlight’ Cleans Up At The Independent Spirit Awards

“Spotlight” just cleaned up at the Independent Spirit Awards. The tale of a team of Boston Globe reporters uncovering the Catholic Church’s vast cover-up of pedophilia among its priests collected five awards Saturday night, including best feature, best director, best screenplay, best editing and the Robert Altman Award.

“Room” was the only other film to win more than one award. Its star, Brie Larson, won the award for best actress; it also won the award for best first screenplay.

Other notable winners included Mya Taylor, the transgender actress who won the award for best breakthrough performance for her role in "Tangerine," and Abraham Attah and Idris Elba, the two male leads in "Beasts of No Nation," who won Netflix its first Independent Spirit Awards.

The awards show, created in 1984 to recognize the achievements of independent filmmakers, is the last film awards show before the Oscars unfold Sunday. Unlike the Directors Guild Awards and the Screen Actors Guild Awards, also given out in the weeks prior to the Oscars, Oscar prognosticators do not use the results of the Independent Spirit Awards in their attempts to handicap who, and what, will win those all-important gold statuettes Sunday.

While “Spotlight” is nominated for a number of Oscars, it is not favored to win any of them except best original screenplay; the online bookmaker Paddy Power gives its authors, Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer, 1 to 10 odds of winning.

Saturday's results cap a successful run for the picture. It's raked in more than $38 million since its release in early November, according to Box Office Mojo estimates, and it's now won 58 awards since its release, including a BAFTA Award for best screenplay, a SAG Award for best ensemble cast, and the AFI Award for best picture.