THE MICRO-budget Dublin musical Once was voted best foreign film at the Film Independent Spirit awards ceremony held on Saturday in a marquee on Santa Monica beach.
The awards, presented annually on the eve of the Oscars, honour independent productions with a budget of less than $20 million. (€14 million).
Once triumphed over formidable competition in its category, which included the Romanian abortion drama, 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days, the winner of the Palme d'Or at last year's Cannes Film Festival. The other nominees were the Israeli production, The Band's Visit and two French films, Persepolis and Lady Chatterley.
To loud applause and cheers, the Once team of director John Carney, producer Martina Niland and actor-singers Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova came on stage to accept the award.
"It was brilliant," Ms Niland told The Irish Times afterwards. "John and I had seen and loved the Romanian film and we were sure it would win. It's unbelievable that we won. The audience response was wonderful. It's such a beautiful statuette and such a special award for us. I think it's only when things calm down that I can reflect on all of this and appreciate it."
Mr Carney added that the award meant a great deal to him, as the Spirits are given for independent productions.
"The ceremony was great fun, very groovy and unpretentious," he said. "It was full of these really nice people who told us how much they liked the film - Meg Ryan, John C Reilly and Cate Blanchett, who was full of praise for it."
Juno, the comedy-drama dealing with a pregnant 16-year- old schoolgirl, took the Spirit awards for best film, best actress (Ellen Page) and best first screenplay (Diablo Cody). Philip Seymour Hoffman was named best actor for his performance in The Savages and Tamara Jenkins won the best screenplay award for the same film. Chiwetel Ejiofor took the best supporting actor prize for Talk to Me.
Cate Blanchett was voted best supporting actress for her portrayal of Bob Dylan in I'm Not There. "It's kind of cruel to make a pregnant lady waddle so far," she joked as she accepted the award in the name of fellow Australian, Heath Ledger, who also plays a version of Dylan in that film and who died of an accidental overdose in New York last month.
The inaugural Robert Altman Award for best ensemble cast went to I'm Not There. Accepting it, the film's director Todd Haynes said: "It's so bittersweet given how shattered all of us are by Heath's inconceivable absence." He then dedicated the prize to "the memory and the dazzling creative spirit of Heath Ledger".
Painter turned film-maker Julian Schnabel received the award for best director for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, and Janusz Kaminski was voted best cinematographer for the same film.
Dan Klores won the best documentary award for Crazy Love, which explores the dysfunctional relationship of Burt and Linda Pugach, who got married even though, 16 years earlier, he had thrown acid in her face and almost blinded her.
The Spirit awards ceremony was awash with movie stars, among them Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Javier Bardem, Forest Whitaker, Sienna Miller, Allison Janney, Patricia Clarkson, Zach Braff and Josh Hartnett.
None of the award winners was present for the annual Golden Raspberry awards announced earlier on Saturday elsewhere in Santa Monica. Lindsay Lohan was given three "Razzies" for I Know Who Killed Me, which swept the board with a record eight wins.
Lohan was voted worst actress, worst supporting actress and worst screen couple for her dual role in the movie, which also was named worst film and worst excuse for a horror movie.
Eddie Murphy was given three awards for his multiple roles in Norbit, as worst actor, worst supporting actor and, for his drag routine, worst supporting actress.
See ireland.com's Breaking News for all the Oscar winners and losers. Michael Dwyer's report will be will be published in The Irish Timestomorrow.