Barry Jenkins and Tarell Alvin McCraney won the award for best screenplay for Moonlight at the Independent Spirit Awards on Saturday.
Jenkins, who wrote the screenplay, and McCraney, who wrote the adapted play In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue, were nominated alongside Kenneth Lonergan (Manchester by the Sea), Mike Mills (20th Century Women), Ira Sachs and Mauricio Zacharias (Little Men) and Taylor Sheridan (Hell or High Water).
The film is also nominated for an Oscar for best adapted screenplay, to be announced on Sunday.
Onstage, Jenkins thanked his family and the movie’s producer Adele Romanski, letting his colleague McCraney deliver his own speech: “I’m gonna let the reverend do his own talking.”
McCraney thanked Jenkins and the actors who embraced the roles in the film, who “told the story and they told it well.”
The award was presented by Janelle Monae and Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
The 2017 Film Independent Spirit Awards were hosted by John Mulaney and Nick Kroll, airing live on IFC from the Santa Monica Pier.
