Carey Mulligan dedicates Independent Spirit awards win to Helen McCrory

Carey Mulligan on screen at the Independent Spirit Awards (left) and Helen McCrory

Carey Mulligan has dedicated an acting award to Helen McCrory, calling the late Peaky Blinders star a "true independent spirit".

Mulligan won best female lead at Thursday's Independent Spirit Awards - the last film ceremony before the Oscars - for portraying a friend seeking revenge in Promising Young Woman.

She said McCrory was "an actress that I have looked up to and will continue to look up to for the rest of my career".

McCrory, 52, died of cancer last week.

Mulligan added: "Thank you to her for everything she gave us."

Frances McDormand stars in Nomadland, which is among the Oscars frontrunners

The awards, which recognise films made for less than $22.5m (£16.2m), also saw The Crown and Call the Midwife actress Emerald Fennell win best screenplay for Promising Young Woman, which she also directed.

The top prize for best feature went to Nomadland, about people living in their vans in the American West, which is tipped to win best picture at the Oscars on Sunday.

Nomadland's Chloe Zhao also won the Independent Spirit awards for best director and best editing, and the film won best cinematography.

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Riz Ahmed was named best male lead for Sound of Metal, for playing a US heavy metal drummer who is going deaf. His co-star Paul Raci won best supporting male, and the film's director and producers won best first feature.

Veteran South Korean actress Yuh-Jung Youn won best supporting female for playing a grandmother in Minari, a drama about a family who move from California to Arkansas in the 1980s.

Michaela Coel stars in, wrote and co-directed I May Destroy You

In the TV categories, Britain's Michaela Coel picked up the prize for best new scripted series for I May Destroy You, the acclaimed drama she created and starred in.

The show, about protagonist Arabella trying to piece her life back together after being sexually assaulted on a night out, also won best ensemble cast.

Unorthodox, a drama about a young ultra-Orthodox Jewish woman who flees her arranged marriage and religious community to start a new life abroad, also won two awards.

Shira Haas won best female performance in a scripted series, while Amit Rahav took the award in the male category.

Independent Spirit Awards 2021 - winners in full

• Best feature - Nomadland

• Best first feature - Sound of Metal

• Best male lead - Riz Ahmed, Sound of Metal

• Best female lead - Carey Mulligan, Promising Young Woman

• Best supporting male - Paul Raci, Sound of Metal

• Best supporting female - Yuh-Jung Youn, Minari

• Best director - Chloe Zhao, Nomadland

• Best screenplay - Emerald Fennell, Promising Young Woman

• Best first screenplay - Andy Siara, Palm Springs

• John Cassavetes Award (best feature made for under $500,000/£364,000) - La Leyanda Negra

• Best cinematography - Joshua James Richards, Nomadland

• Best editing - Chloe Zhao, Nomadland

• Best international film - Quo Vadis, Aida? (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

• Best documentary - Crip Camp

• Robert Altman Award (given to one film's director, casting director and ensemble cast) - One Night in Miami

• Producers Award - Gerry Kim

• Someone to Watch Award - Ekwa Msangi, director of Farewell Amor

• Truer Than Fiction Award (given to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition) - Elegance Bratton, director of Pier Kids

• Best new non-scripted or documentary series - Immigration Nation

• Best new scripted series - I May Destroy You

• Best female performance in a scripted series - Shira Haas, Unorthodox

• Best male performance in a new scripted series - Amit Rahav, Unorthodox

• Best ensemble cast in a new scripted series - I May Destroy You