Andrew Ahn gave an acceptance speech for all of us

'Spa Night' wins the John Cassavetes Award at the Independent Spirit Awards.



Forget the Academy Awards. The best acceptance speech of the weekend happened at the 32nd Independent Spirit Awards, courtesy of writer/director Andrew Ahn. His acclaimed coming-of-age drama Spa Night won the John Cassavetes Award, which is presented to a film budgeted at less than $500,000.

Stepping up to the mic, Andrew nervously admitted, "I'm gonna barf," then offered some heartfelt thanks for honoring his film about a Korean American immigrant family and queer Korean American people. He also stressed the importance of telling stories by underrepresented voices.

"Now, more than ever, it's important that we support stories told by and about communities that are marginalized; that we tell stories about immigrants, Muslims, women, people of color, trans and queer folk," Andrew said. "Film is such a power tool in humanizing these communities so that we can't be pushed aside and labeled as "other." We are a part of this great country and we are undeniable."

Here's the full video of his speech:

Red Carpet Racism: "Smile, you're in America now."

Kumail Nanjiani says he was racially harassed by a photographer at the Independent Spirit Awards.



Over the weekend, comedian Kumail Nanjiani, star of the hit HBO comedy Silicon Valley, co-hosted the Film Independent Spirit Awards with Saturday Night Live's Kate McKinnon. Not bad for a nerd kid from Karachi. Except for the part where a photographer kept making racist remarks to Nanjiani on the red carpet.

Nanjiani, who moved to the United States from Pakistan in 2001, says that an unidentified member of the press repeatedly told him, "Smile, you're in America now," while taking photos of him on the red carpet.

When Nanjiani confronted him with an "Excuse me?" (this is the polite, red carpet, tuxedo-clad version of "What the fuck did you just say?") the photographer kept telling him "Welcome to America." Like five times.

"This is why I may not be smiling in some of the pics," says Nanjiani.

2013 film independent spirit awards nominees announced

Nominations for the Film Independent Spirit Awards, which honor achievements in independent filmmaking, were announced this morning: 'Moonrise Kingdom,' 'Beasts of the Southern Wild' Top Indie Spirit Awards Nominations.

As expected, critical darlings Moonrise Kingdom and Beasts of the Southern Wild lead the pack with the most nods, but for the purposes of this website, there are a few names to note...

Huge shout out goes to friend of this blog (and former Angry Reader of the Week) Mynette Louie, who is nominated for the 16th Annual Piaget Producers Awards for her awesome movie producing skillz. Yes, with a "z."