Sean Baker's "Anora" won best film, best director and best actor for Mikey Madison at the Independent Spirit Awards on Saturday in what could be a preview of next Sunday's Oscars: The film about a Brooklyn sex worker and her whirlwind affair with a Russian oligarch's son has emerged in recent weeks as an awards season front-runner. The Spirit Awards, held in a beachside tent in Santa Monica, California, is the shaggier, more irreverent sister to the Academy Awards, celebrating the best in independent film and television. Host Aidy Bryant called it "Hollywood's third or fourth biggest night." In accepting the directing prize, Baker spoke passionately about the difficulty of making independent films in an industry that is no longer able to fund riskier films. He said indies are in danger of becoming calling card films — movies made only as a means to get hired for bigger projects. "The system has to change because this is simply unsustainable," Baker said to enthusiastic applause. "We shouldn't be barely getting by." "Anora's" best film competition included Jane Schoenbrun's psychological horror "I Saw the TV Glow," RaMell Ross' adaptation of Colson Whitehead's "Nickel Boys," Greg Kwedar's incarceration drama "Sing Sing" and Coralie Fargeat's body horror "The Substance." This year had several other possible Oscar winners celebrating. Kieran Culkin, considered an Oscar favorite, won the supporting performance award for "A Real Pain." His director, co-star and writer Jesse Eisenberg won best screenplay for the film about two cousins embarking on a Holocaust tour in Poland. Culkin was not there to accept — he also missed his BAFTA win last weekend to tend to a family member — but other Oscar nominees like Madison, Demi Moore, Sebastian Stan and... Read More