Spirit Awards 2011: John Waters, Eva Mendes and more from the scene

At Saturday's Independent Spirit Awards, "Black Swan" won declared the best picture. Natalie Portman was named best actress. James Franco walked with a trophy for best actor. And a multitude of exceptional famous people nearly froze to death, thanks to freakishly cold Southern California weather and some robust breezes off the Pacific Ocean in Santa Monica, where the ceremony was held.

As noted in a previous post, the brisk temperatures and (possibly the fatigue of one too many Oscar-season interviews) compelled many celebs to skip the Spirit Awards red carpet.

But a few people stopped to chat.

The always game John Waters, for example, was happy to share his thoughts about the Oscars/Spirit Awards overlap:

And, as you'll see after the jump, both Eva Mendes and "The Kids Are All Right" director and co-writer Lisa Cholodenko had something to say about what the Spirit Awards mean to them.

Related coverage:

The Spirit Awards: 'Black Swan' takes best picture as worlds of Oscar and indie film collide

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Here's a clip of Eva Mendes, chatting with folks from IFC just before she got whisked off the carpet, leaving a number of pathetic reporters futilely shouting "Eva!" in her wake:

And here's Lisa Cholodenko, alongside her partner Wendy Melvoin, describing the vibe at the Spirits, how she's coping with awards season fatigue and her feelings about today's big Oscar ceremony. (And in case you're wondering, yes, Melvoin is the same Wendy from Wendy and Lisa of Prince & the Revolution fame, but her musical other half was Lisa Coleman, not Cholodenko. Follow all that?)