The American biographical crime drama film follows The Boston Globe’s “Spotlight” team of the Boston Globe which is the oldest newspaper investigative journalist unit and its investigation into cases of child sex abuse in the Boston area by Roman Catholic priests.
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Spotlight, which also took home the Best Original Screenplay Oscar, also won Best Film at the Independent Spirit Awards as well as the Critics Choice Award Best Picture.
Walter Robinson, who led the Globe Spotlight Team that broke open the scandal in 2002, said he believes the film had already had a huge impact on victims and the church itself well before it received Oscar awards Sunday for best picture and best screenplay.
Producers Michael Sugar, director Tom McCarthy, Blye Pagon Faust, Nicole Rocklin and Steve Golin pose backstage with their award for Best Feature for the film “Spotlight” during the 31st Independent Spirit Awards in Santa Monica, California February 27, 2016.
The spotlight on diversity at the Spirit Awards comes amid a furore in Hollywood over the 20 all-white acting nominees for this year’s Oscars, fuelling the #OscarsSo White debate.
Idris Elba, whose exclusion from the 88th Oscar nominations raised eyebrows, bagged the best supporting actor for “Beasts of No Nation” . “So you better get out there and put them in your next movie”.
Brie Larson, the Room star considered the frontrunner to win the Oscar for best actress, netted best female lead.
Saturday night’s Independent Spirit Awards demonstrated a very different perspective on the top films.
But with a victor now chosen, that horse race is now history, and Spotlight joins the likes of Casablanca, The Godfather, and Gone With the Wind in best picture Valhalla. And the documentary front-runner, the Indonesian genocide film “Look of Silence” won best documentary.
The other movies fighting for this prestigious title were ‘The Big Short, ‘ ‘Bridge of Spies, ‘ ‘Brooklyn, ‘ ‘Mad Max: Fury Road, ‘ ‘The Martian, ‘ ‘The Revenant, ‘ and ‘Room’. Director Marielle Heller, who won best first feature for the coming-of-age tale “Diary of a Teenage Girl”, marked her territory in a speech that noted the onrush of interested from bigger productions for the movie’s breakout star, Bel Powley.
“You realize if they nominated hosts, I wouldn’t even get this job”, Rock quipped.
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McCarthy told reporters on the arrivals red carpet he hadn’t felt any nerves ahead of the Spirit Awards – but would be “a wreck” at the Oscars.
