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‘Moonlight’ sweeps Spirit Awards; Affleck wins best actor

SANTA MONICA, Calif. — Sunday might be dominated by “La La Land,” but Saturday belonged to “Moonlight.”

Barry Jenkins’ luminous coming-of-age tale swept Saturday’s Film Independent Spirit Awards, taking home six awards including best feature. “Moonlight” won every award it was nominated for at the 32nd annual indie awards, the dressed-down, beachside ceremony held the day before the Academy Awards.

“Moonlight” won for its directing, screenplay, cinematography and editing. It was also honored for its ensemble cast in the Spirit Awards’ Robert Altman Award. Backstage, Jenkins said its tale of a poor, young, black kid in Miami stood in stark contrast to President Donald Trump’s administration.

“I think ‘Moonlight’ exists as a beacon of inclusivity,” said Jenkins, flanked by his African-American cast and producers.

The afternoon ceremony frequently had a strong political tenor. Casey Affleck, who won best actor for “Manchester by the Sea,” wore a shirt with the word “love” in Arabic.

“The policies of this administration are abhorrent and will not last,” said Affleck, accepting his award. Backstage, he spoke about “the torrent of terrifying news that comes out of Washington every day”

Some Oscar contenders were missing their presumed rivals at the Spirit Awards, which only nominated films made for $20 million or less (and thus disqualifying the Academy Awards favorite “La La Land”). But if “Moonlight,” nominated for eight Oscars including best picture, is to pull off the upset Sunday, it has some history on its side. The last three Spirit Awards best-feature winners — “Spotlight,” ”Birdman,” ”12 Years a Slave” — all went on to win best picture at the Oscars.

Host Nick Kroll and John Mulaney maintained a rigorously irreverent tone through a ceremony often punctuated by belly laughs. In their opening monologue, Kroll mockingly defended the common charge of “liberal elitism” often thrown at Hollywood events like the Spirits.

“We’re not in a bubble. We’re in a tent,” said Kroll, referring to the Spirits’ Santa Monica, Calif., home. “We’re fringe artists on a California beach. If we leaned any further to the left, we’d topple into the ocean.”

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