Spotlight Wins Best Film from Indiana Journalists; Room Wins Three incl. Brie Larson, Jacob Tremblay
“Spotlight,” a drama exploring the Boston Globe’s investigation of widespread sexual abuse by Catholic priests, was named Best Film of 2015 by the Indiana Film Journalists Association (IFJA).
“Room,” an adaption of the best-selling novel about a woman raising her young son inside a solitary room, won runner-up in the best film race. Both movies won three awards from the IFJA, a group of writers dedicated to promoting quality film criticism in the Hoosier State.
In addition to Best Film, “Spotlight” won for Best Original Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor, Mark Ruffalo. “Room” earned the Best Adapted Screenplay Prize, and also was recognized for the top two performances of the year: Brie Larson for Best Actress and Jacob Tremblay for Best Actor.
Besides the winner and runner-up for Best Film, eight other movies were named Finalists in that category, cumulatively representing Indiana film critics’ picks for the 10 best movies of 2015.
(See full list below.)
George Miller was named Best Director for “Mad Max: Fury Road,” which also won for Best Musical Score. Greta Gerwig won Best Supporting Actress for “Mistress America.” Phyllis Smith won for Best Vocal/Motion Capture Performance for “Inside Out.” “Anomalisa” was named the Best Animated Film and also won the Original Vision Award. “Son of Saul” won Best Foreign Language Film and “Amy” earned Best Documentary.
The Hoosier Award, which recognizes a significant cinematic contribution by a person or persons with roots in Indiana, or a film that depicts Hoosier State locales and stories, went to
filmmaker Angelo Pizzo. IFJA members issued this statement for the Hoosier Award: “Angelo Pizzo has forged an important Hollywood career, with iconic films such as ‘Hoosiers’ and ‘Rudy,’ while remaining devoted to his Indiana roots. We also laud Pizzo for making the jump into the director’s chair for the first time after three decades as a writer and producer with this year’s ‘My All American.’”
The FULL List of winners and runners-up:
Best Film
Winner: “Spotlight”
Runner-up: “Room”
Other Finalists (listed alphabetically):
“Anomalisa”
“The Big Short”
“Carol”
“The End of the Tour”
“Mad Max: Fury Road”
“The Martian”
“Steve Jobs”
“Straight Outta Compton”
Best Animated Feature
Winner: “Anomalisa”
Runner-Up: “Inside Out ”
Best Foreign Language Film
Winner: “Son of Saul”
Runner-Up: “Goodnight Mommy”
Best Documentary
Winner: “Amy”
Runner-Up: “Meru”
Best Original Screenplay
Winner: Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer, “Spotlight”
Runner-up: Matt Charman, Joel & Ethan Coen, “Bridge of Spies”
Best Adapted Screenplay
Winner: Emma Donoghue, “Room”
Runner-up: Adam McKay and Charles Randolph, “The Big Short”
Best Director
Winner: George Miller, “Mad Max: Fury Road”
Runner-up: Tom McCarthy, “Spotlight”
Best Actress
Winner: Brie Larson, “Room”
Runner-up: Charlotte Rampling, “45 Years”
Best Supporting Actress
Winner: Greta Gerwig, “Mistress America”
Runner-up: Elizabeth Banks, “Love & Mercy”
Best Actor
Winner: Jacob Tremblay, “Room”
Runner-up: Jason Segel, “The End of the Tour”
Best Supporting Actor
Winner: Mark Ruffalo, “Spotlight”
Runner-up: Idris Elba, “Beasts of No Nation”
Best Vocal/Motion Capture Performance
Winner: Phyllis Smith, “Inside Out”
Runner-up: Tom Noonan, “Anomalisa”
Best Musical Score
Winner: Junkie XL, “Mad Max: Fury Road”
Runner-up: Disasterpeace, “It Follows”
Original Vision Award
Winner: “Anomalisa”
Runner-up: “Chi-Raq”
The Hoosier Award
Winner: Angelo Pizzo, writer/director/producer
(As a special award, no runner-up is declared in this category.)
About IFJA
The Indiana Film Journalists Association was established in February 2009. Members must reside in the Hoosier State and produce consistent, quality film criticism or commentary in any medium.
http://indianafilmjournalists.com
He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.
- 2025 Oscar Predictions: SUPPORTING ACTOR (November) - November 21, 2024
- 2025 Oscars: Eligibility Lists for Animated Feature, Documentary Feature and International Feature Film for the 97th Academy Awards - November 21, 2024
- Nava Mau, Sean Wang Among 2024 BAFTA Breakthroughs Championing New ‘Must-Watch’ Creatives - November 21, 2024
2025 Oscar Predictions: SUPPORTING ACTOR (November) 
Director Watch Podcast Ep. 72 – ‘Three Colours: Blue’ (Krzysztof Kieślowski, 1993) 
2025 Oscars: Eligibility Lists for Animated Feature, Documentary Feature and International Feature Film for the 97th Academy Awards 
Nava Mau, Sean Wang Among 2024 BAFTA Breakthroughs Championing New ‘Must-Watch’ Creatives