Director Kevin Smith won the Independent Spirit award, and his acceptance speech, punctuated with expletives, was the evening's most 'colourful,' as he took hilarious pot shots at the press.

Freddie Highmore enjoyed the evening's most popular victory, that for Best Newcomer for his terrific work in Finding Neverland. The young actor beat Zach Braff (Garden State), Matthew Vaughn (Layer Cake), Sienna Miller (Alfie, Layer Cake) and Bryce Dallas Howard (The Village).