Alright, we're in the press tent here at the Independent Spirit Awards.  We'll be covering all the shenanigans (and the thousand times a certain journo in the front row keeps asking "what advice do you have for young filmmakers").

Keep refreshing the page for consistent updates, and give this post a look for continuous photo updates from the show.

4:09 PM: And that's a wrap, as Jason Reitman and company win for "Juno."  No shock there, and now, it's on to the Oscars to see if that pesky "rule" can't be shattered.  Congrats to all involved.  I'm out of here now, off to the parties and thankfully, released of the burden of live blogging!

4:04 PM: Anyone expect someone else to win Best Actress?

3:57 PM: Todd Haynes and company just responded to queries after accepting the Robert Altman award.  In the middle of answering one question, they took a moment to look at the screen since Best Director was being announced.  Of course, Julian Schnabel won, which Haynes seemed to expect.  "He did an AMAZING job," Haynes said.

Another journo asked if it was bittersweet to take this award with Heath Ledger not here to enjoy the moment.  Of course, the answer was "yes," and Haynes followed it up with stories of how Ledger would never leave the set, even when he wasn't needed.  "He would just retire his stand-in and stay on the set," Haynes said.

3:46 PM: I notice in the meantime that Janusz Kaminski won the prize for Best Cinematography.  AWESOME.  Such creative and vibrant work, I wonder if the Academy will go the same way tomorrow.  I'd say that is the most up in the air category of the season.

3:43 PM: Tamara Jenkins and Phillip Seymour Hoffman just took some questions.  Hoffman, as always, is a fantastic interview, very thoughtful with his answers.  The most interesting query came from a journo asking if he'd noticed a difference between the "army commander" male helmers and the more "earth mother," by way of the descriptions she's come across, female directors.  To Hoffman, he thinks those two descriptions are one and the same, and that with females, if anything, he projects his own relationships with women onto the partnership.  Very good session.

3:29 PM: We're back online!  Sorry folks.

3:27 PM: Best Screenplay goes -- WOW -- Tamara Jenkins for "The Savages."  That might not have surprised a lot of people, but for me, I kind of thought "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" would win out.  But I'm no expert at the Spirits.

3:22 PM: I'm writing this despite not being able to post it, but you'll read it when it goes live.  The Spirits can't seem to get their internet act together so we've been in a bit of a blackout for a while.  So sorry for the delays.

3:18 PM: John Carney just took to the stage here in the press tent to answer some questions, as did Cate Blanchett.  Carney mentioned that it seems to have become tradition for Irish filmmakers to move away from Ireland to "get famous," and then return before the homeland takes to Irish filmmaking.  He said "Once" wasn't very well received at all when it was released over there and that he's quite happy with the way Fox Searchlight has handled the release and the wave of passion and support since Sundance.

Blanchett, meanwhile, had to deal with a few baby questions, of course.  "Are you having a boy or a girl," one nosy journo asked.  "All I know is I'm having a baby," Blanchett replied.  We ask only the hard-hitting questions here at the Spirits, folks.

2:57 PM: "Once" taking Best Foreign Film over such stiff competition as "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days" and "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly" says a lot for this little flick, which has a passionate core of love and support.  John Carney's speech is wonderfully unasuming and modest.

2:55 PM: Jeff Wells just erupted into applause when "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days" was announced as one of the nominees for Best Foreign Film.  Keep fighting the fight, Jeff.

2:49 PM: "August Evening" takes the John Cassavettes Award.  It's good for the filmmaker to have encouraged the audience to seek out and view all of these nominees, because they are "truly independent."  Indeed.  Tough luck for Aaron Katz and his beautiful, made-for-under-$2,000 (beat that for independent) "Quiety City."

2:36 PM: Cate Blanchett predictably wins for "I'm Not There."  The question now is, does the "win on Saturday, lose on Sunday" rule prove itself true?  We'll see tomorrow, but it was a solid touch dedicating the award to Heath Ledger.  No frills, no adjectives, just the dedication.  (FYI, I'm working on uploading images from the press area in a post below  stay tuned for that.)

2:26 PM: Diablo Cody just waltzed into the press tent and is weathering the field of questions.  Someone just asked if she wins the Oscar tomorrow, will she drop the F-bomb again.  "Hell no," she said.  "I'm going to be all classy for the Oscars.  I'm going to wash under my arms!"  Call it irritating, call it blogese that has run its course.  This is an infectious young lady, as of yet unphased by how hard this kind of thing can be on a person.  It's, again, sad that so many of those jaded in the media can't help themselves.

2:21 PM: The first of what promises to be a sweep for "Juno," Diablo Cody takes down the win for Best First Screenplay.  Now if the media would try to lay off of the poor woman.  Even a few of the journos here in the tent can't help themselves but be snide, but hey, when someone blows up in the spotlight, some people can't have enough fun tearing them back down.

2:18 PM: Glen Hansard and Merketa Irglova's rendition of "When Your Mind's Made Up."  Gorgeous.  They're two of the year's true darlings.

2:14 PM: Chiwetel Ejiofor takes the Best Supporting Actor trophy for what was, truthfully, one of the better supporting turns of the year in "Talk to Me."  There were a number of performances that stood out in the effort, actually, starting at the top with Don Cheadle.  I was personally taken with Taraji P. Henson's saucy turn, but this is a great ackowledgement for the pic.

2:11 PM: After some twisting and turning, we're finally camped out here in the press tent at the Indie Spirits.  Best Supporting Male is on the way and once I get situated, the live blogging will settle in.  We promise.