24th Independent Spirit Awards

24th Independent Spirit Awards
24th Independent Spirit Awards
Date	February 21, 2009
Site	U.S.
Hosted by	Steve Coogan
Highlights
Best Film	The Wrestler
Most awards	The Wrestler (3)
Most nominations	Ballast (6); Rachel Getting Married (6)
	← 23rd ; Independent Spirit Awards ; 25th →;

Last updated October 27, 2025

The 24th Independent Spirit Awards , honoring the best in independent filmmaking for 2008, were announced on February 21, 2009. It was hosted by Steve Coogan.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]

Winners and nominees

Best Feature	Best Director
The Wrestler Ballast Frozen River Rachel Getting Married Wendy and Lucy	Tom McCarthy – The Visitor Ramin Bahrani – Chop Shop Jonathan Demme – Rachel Getting Married Lance Hammer – Ballast Courtney Hunt – Frozen River
Best Male Lead	Best Female Lead
Mickey Rourke – The Wrestler Javier Bardem – Vicky Cristina Barcelona Richard Jenkins – The Visitor Sean Penn – Milk Jeremy Renner – The Hurt Locker	Melissa Leo – Frozen River Summer Bishil – Towelhead Anne Hathaway – Rachel Getting Married Tarra Riggs – Ballast Michelle Williams – Wendy and Lucy
Best Supporting Male	Best Supporting Female
James Franco – Milk Anthony Mackie – The Hurt Locker Charlie McDermott – Frozen River Jim Myron Ross – Ballast Haaz Sleiman – The Visitor	Penélope Cruz – Vicky Cristina Barcelona Rosemarie DeWitt – Rachel Getting Married Rosie Perez – The Take Misty Upham – Frozen River Debra Winger – Rachel Getting Married
Best Screenplay	Best First Screenplay
Vicky Cristina Barcelona – Woody Allen Sangre de Mi Sangre – Christopher Zalla Savage Grace – Howard A. Rodman Sugar – Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck Synecdoche, New York – Charlie Kaufman	Milk – Dustin Lance Black Ballast – Lance Hammer Frozen River – Courtney Hunt Rachel Getting Married – Jenny Lumet The Wackness – Jonathan Levine
Best First Feature	Best Documentary
Synecdoche, New York Afterschool Medicine for Melancholy Sangre de Mi Sangre Sleep Dealer	Man on Wire The Betrayal Encounters at the End of the World The Order of Myths Up the Yangtze
Best Cinematography	Best Foreign Film
The Wrestler – Maryse Alberti Ballast – Lol Crawley Chop Shop – Michael Simmonds Medicine for Melancholy – James Laxton Milk – Harris Savides	The Class • France Gomorrah • Italy Hunger • Ireland/UK The Secret of the Grain • France Silent Light • Mexico/France/Netherlands/Germany

Films with multiple nominations and awards

Films that received multiple nominations
Nominations	Film
6	Ballast
	Frozen River
	Rachel Getting Married
4	Milk
3	The Visitor
3	The Wrestler
2	Chop Shop
	The Hurt Locker
	Wendy and Lucy
	Sangre de Mi Sangre
	Synecdoche, New York
	Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Films that won multiple awards
Awards	Film
3	The Wrestler
2	Synecdoche, New York
2	Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Special Awards

Lars Knudsen and Jay Van Hoy – Treeless Mountain and I'll Come Running
Jason Orans – Goodbye Solo and Year of the Fish

Someone to Watch Award

Lynn Shelton –My Effortless Brilliance

Barry Jenkins – Medicine for Melancholy
Nina Paley – Sita Sings the Blues

Robert Altman Award

Synecdoche, New York — Charlie Kaufman, Jeanne McCarthy, Hope Davis, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Catherine Keener, Samantha Morton, Tom Noonan, Emily Watson, Dianne Wiest and Michelle Williams

External links

References

↑ Jones and Maxwell (2008-12-02). "Spirit Award nominees announced". Variety. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 2012-08-25.
↑ ""River," "Rachel," "Ballast" Lead Spirit Award Nominations". indieWire. 2008-12-02. Retrieved 2012-08-25.
↑ "'The Wrestler' tops Spirit Awards". Variety. 2009-02-21. Retrieved 2012-08-25.
↑ ""The Wrestler" Leads 2009 Spirit Award Winners". indieWire. 2009-02-21. Retrieved 2012-08-25.
↑ King, Susan (22 February 2009). "'The Wrestler' wins at Film Independent's Spirit Awards". The Envelope. Archived from the original on 29 Dec 2009. Retrieved 2012-08-25.

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[1] Jones and Maxwell (2008-12-02). "Spirit Award nominees announced". Variety. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 2012-08-25.

[2] ""River," "Rachel," "Ballast" Lead Spirit Award Nominations". indieWire. 2008-12-02. Retrieved 2012-08-25.

[3] "'The Wrestler' tops Spirit Awards". Variety. 2009-02-21. Retrieved 2012-08-25.

[4] ""The Wrestler" Leads 2009 Spirit Award Winners". indieWire. 2009-02-21. Retrieved 2012-08-25.

[5] King, Susan (22 February 2009). "'The Wrestler' wins at Film Independent's Spirit Awards". The Envelope. Archived from the original on 29 Dec 2009. Retrieved 2012-08-25.

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v t e Independent Spirit Awards
Current categories	Best Film Best Director Best Lead Performance Best Supporting Performance Best Breakthrough Performance Best Cinematography Best Editing Best Documentary Feature Best First Feature Best International Film Best Screenplay Best First Screenplay Best New Scripted Series Best Lead Performance in a New Scripted Series Best Supporting Performance in a New Scripted Series John Cassavetes Award Robert Altman Award
Retired categories	Best Male Lead Best Female Lead Best Supporting Male Best Supporting Female Best Male Performance in a New Scripted Series Best Female Performance in a New Scripted Series
Ceremonies	1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 (years are of film release; ceremonies are the following year)

24th Independent Spirit Awards

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