Black Swan wins best picture at Spirit Awards

The ballet thriller Black Swan has won best picture at the Spirit Awards honouring independent film, along with awards for best actress for Natalie Portman and director for Darren Aronofsky.

James Franco was picked as best actor for the survival story 127 hours, while the Ozarks crime story Winter's Bone earned both supporting-acting prizes, for John Hawkes and Dale Dickey.

All three films are up for best picture at Sunday's Academy Awards, where Portman is considered the favourite to win the best-actress Oscar and Franco is a co-host.

With plenty of overlap among nominees at the Oscars, the Spirit Awards are a warmup for Hollywood's biggest party.

The British monarch saga The King's Speech, the best-picture front-runner at the Oscars, won the prize for best foreign film at the Spirit Awards, handed out Saturday in Santa Monica, Calif.