Get Out has been named best film at the Film Independent Spirit Awards - which has predicted the best picture winner at the Oscars four years running.
Moonlight was seen as an outsider when it picked up the same award at the 2017 event before winning the Oscar.
Jordan Peele was named best director, for what is his feature film debut, at the beachside event in Los Angeles.
The Spirit Awards honour low-budget films and are seen as the precursor to the Academy Awards on Sunday.
Asked about the possibility of black horror film Get Out repeating the success of Moonlight in 2017 - and Spotlight and Birdman the previous years - Peele simply said: "It's Saturday. Tomorrow's tomorrow."
He is the first black filmmaker to be nominated for best picture, best director and best screenwriting.
He told the audience at the Santa Monica event: "I think it's clear to everybody in this room, across the country and across the world, that we're at the beginning of a renaissance right now.
"Our stories from the outside, stories from the people in this room - the same stories that independent filmmakers have been telling for years - are being recognised and honoured."
He said the 23-day-shoot was "scrappy" and that he cried every day because he was so drained.
"This was not a film where anyone got a paycheque," he said. "We did this because we believed in the story. It wasn't a story anybody had seen before - it needed to exist."
The film stars London-born Daniel Kaluuya, who - when asked if he would star in a sequel if one was made - replied with incredulity: "Would I like to be in a Jordan Peele script? We just won!"