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Last night, at the Nokia Theater at LA Live in downtown Los Angeles, CA, the 25th annual Film Independent’s Spirit Awards were handed out in a fairly lavish ceremony just days before the Academy Awards are handed out in Hollywood. Known as the Indie Oscars, the Spirit Awards annually honor the independent films and filmmakers made in the year prior. This year, the indie film Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire was the big winner, taking home 5 awards — including Best Female Lead, Best Supporting Female, Best Director and Best Feature!!! Now, I should point out that The Hurt Locker was not in contention for Spirit Awards this year due to a glitch in the awards show rules. It was nominated last year, months before the film was ever released … which meant, naturally, that it has no chance of winning because none of the voters had even heard of the film. But, Hurt Locker‘s loss was deffo Precious‘s gain. Here are some photos from the red carpet arrivals and some deets about what went down at the Film Independent’s Spirit Awards last night:

The harrowing drama “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” was the big winner Friday evening at the Film Independent Spirit Awards, which was held in a tent on L.A. Live’s event deck in downtown Los Angeles. The film about a pregnant African American teenager and her abusive mother won best feature, best director for Lee Daniels, best first screenplay for Geoffrey Fletcher, best female lead for Gabourey Sidibe and best supporting female for Mo’Nique. Daniels basked in his win away from his fellow Oscar nominees. “Kathryn Bigelow’s not here tonight,” he said. “I am.” “Precious” is nominated for Academy Awards in many of the same categories, with Mo’Nique considered the odds-on favorite to receive best supporting actress Sunday evening at the Kodak Theatre. Mo’Nique’s acceptance speech wasn’t as emotional as some of her other winning speeches this awards season, but she did take a special moment to acknowledge her co-star Sidibe, telling her, “You are a special gift to the universe, baby.” Presenter Ben Stiller, noting the ceremony’s late hour and the independent nature of the assembled crowd, brought half-naked porn stars onstage to writhe in sexual positions while he read the nominees for best film. On Friday, best male lead went to Oscar nominee Jeff Bridges for his moving performance as a dissolute country singer in “Crazy Heart.” The role has won Bridges numerous awards this season, including honors from the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild. Bridges gave a rambling speech in which he thanked many people and told the crowd, ” ‘Crazy Heart’ is a gem of an independent film.” “Crazy Heart,” directed by Scott Cooper, also won the Spirit prize for best first feature. Robert Duvall, who came to the stage with Cooper, told the crowd that the latter hadn’t directed so much as a high school play before this film. “But,” Duvall added, “he does a great job.” Woody Harrelson, also an Oscar contender, won for supporting male for “The Messenger.” Screenplay honors went to Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber for “(500) Days of Summer.” Roger Deakins received the cinematography award for “A Serious Man.” “An Education” won best foreign film, and “Anvil! The Story of Anvil” took documentary honors … The third annual Robert Altman Award, which is given to a film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast, went to Joel and Ethan Coen’s “A Serious Man” … The Spirit Awards, which honor independent and original filmmaking, have traditionally been held on the Saturday afternoon before the Oscars in a tent on the beach in Santa Monica. But the show moved to Friday evening at L.A. Live this year in celebration of the awards’ 25th anniversary.

Many, many congrats goes out to Precious … while I’m certain that Mo’Nique will represent the film at the Academy Awards tomorrow night, it’s clear that last night’s Spirit Awards was the film’s biggest night to shine. It’s a shame that The Hurt Locker got shut out due to a set of janky rules (which will, very likely, be amended for next year’s show) but I’m very happy to see Precious enjoy it’s time in the sun. After the jump, check out some photos from the press room and from backstage at the Film Independent’s Spirit Awards last night …

Because the Spirit Awards were handed out last night instead of this afternoon, that means there is only one awards show scheduled to take place today … the Raspberry Awards!!! Very soon we’ll find out who was the worst of the worst in film last year … then the big show on Sunday night. But, to reiterate, many congrats goes out to Precious and all the winners at the Spirit Awards last night. Did your faves win?

[Photo credit: Wireimage; Source]