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The Los Angeles Film Festival has honored Charlize Theron with the Spirit of Independence Award. The choices of Ms. Theron’s projects are what led the festival to honor her with the award. She took on roles that other movie stars would not (Monster).

“I think the biggest misconception about independent filmmaking is that if you do those movies, you’ll always be thought of as that kind of actor,” she said. “And then you don’t get to do the other things. And it’s not true.”

Theron — wearing a short brown dress and Manolo Blahnik shoes — said she wasn’t a great dancer, “but if you put me on a stage and told me I was a swan and that I was dying, I … died.”

The award came one day after Theron hosted a silent auction that raised about $140,000 for her African Outreach Project. Among the items: a bra she wore in “Monster.”

“I outbid the person who bid on the bra, and I feel horrible to admit that now,” she said. “But it was just too special to me and I find myself incredibly sexy in it.”

Mmm. Can you guess who the main sponsor was from the photos below? We have Charlize Theron, Virginia Madsen, Olivia Wilde, and Brittany Daniel all posing with the doggie.

More photos from the LA Film Festival’s Second Annual ‘ Spirit of Independence, after the jump.

Charlize Theron receives Spirit of Indie award [MSNBC]

Where is Kristen Bell’s photo with the Target dog?

(Source)