15th Independent Spirit Awards

15th Independent Spirit Awards
15th Independent Spirit Awards
Date	March 25, 2000
Site	Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Hosted by	Jennifer Tilly
Highlights
Best Film	Election
Most awards	Election (3)
Most nominations	Boys Don't Cry (5); The Limey (5)
	← 14th ; Independent Spirit Awards ; 16th →;

Last updated October 27, 2025

The 15th Independent Spirit Awards , honoring the best in independent filmmaking for 1999, were announced on March 25, 2000. It was hosted by Jennifer Tilly.^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]

Nominees and winners

Best Feature	Best Director
Election Cookie's Fortune The Limey The Straight Story Sugar Town	Alexander Payne – Election Harmony Korine – Julien Donkey-Boy Doug Liman – Go David Lynch – The Straight Story Steven Soderbergh – The Limey
Best Male Lead	Best Female Lead
Richard Farnsworth – The Straight Story John Cusack – Being John Malkovich Terence Stamp – The Limey David Strathairn – Limbo Noble Willingham –The Corndog Man	Hilary Swank – Boys Don't Cry Diane Lane – A Walk on the Moon Janet McTeer – Tumbleweeds Susan Traylor –Valerie Flake Reese Witherspoon – Election
Best Supporting Male	Best Supporting Female
Steve Zahn – Happy, Texas Charles S. Dutton – Cookie's Fortune Clark Gregg – The Adventures of Sebastian Cole Luis Guzmán – The Limey Terrence Howard – The Best Man	Chloë Sevigny – Boys Don't Cry Barbara Barrie – Judy Berlin Vanessa Martinez – Limbo Sarah Polley – Go Jean Smart – Guinevere
Best Screenplay	Best First Screenplay
Election – Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor Dogma – Kevin Smith Guinevere – Audrey Wells The Limey – Lem Dobbs SLC Punk! – James Merendino	Being John Malkovich – Charlie Kaufman The Adventures of Sebastian Cole – Kip Williams Boys Don't Cry – Kimberly Peirce and Andy Bienen Cookie's Fortune – Anne Rapp The Straight Story – John Roach and Mary Sweeney
Best Cinematography	Best Debut Performance
Three Seasons – Lisa Rinzler The City – Harlan Bosmajian Judy Berlin – Jeffrey Seckendorf Julien Donkey-Boy – Anthony Dod Mantle Twin Falls Idaho – M. David Mullen	Kimberly J. Brown – Tumbleweeds Jessica Campbell – Election Jade Gordon – Sugar Town Toby Smith – Drylongso Chris Stafford – Edge of Seventeen
Best First Feature (Over $500,000)	Best First Feature (Under $500,000)
Being John Malkovich Boys Don't Cry Three Seasons Twin Falls Idaho Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl	The Blair Witch Project The City Compensation Judy Berlin Treasure Island
Best Foreign Film
Run Lola Run • Germany All About My Mother • Spain My Son the Fanatic • UK Rosetta • Belgium/France Topsy-Turvy • UK

Special awards

Truer Than Fiction Award

Night Waltz: The Music of Paul Bowles

American Hollow
On the Ropes
Well-Founded Fear

Producers Award

Pamela Koffler – I'm Losing You

Eva Kolodner – Boys Don't Cry
Paul Mezey – The City
Christine K. Walker –Backroads and Homo Heights

Someone to Watch Award

Cauleen Smith – Drylongso

Dan Clark –The Item
Julian Goldberger – Trans
Lisanne Skyler –Getting to Know You

Films with multiple nominations and awards

Films that received multiple nominations

Nominations	Film
5	Boys Don't Cry
5	The Limey
4	Election
4	The Straight Story
3	Cookie's Fortune
3	Judy Berlin

Films that won multiple awards

Awards	Film
3	Election
2	Being John Malkovich
2	Boys Don't Cry

References

↑ "'Election' voted best film in Spirit Awards". CNN.com . March 26, 2000.
↑ ""Election," "Limey" Up for Indie Oscars". E! Online. January 13, 2000. Archived from the original on January 22, 2013. Retrieved August 17, 2012.
↑ Bartoo, Jim (January 14, 2000). "'The Limey,' 'Election' Got the Spirit". Hollywood.com. Archived from the original on October 22, 2007. Retrieved August 17, 2012.
↑ Ng, Fiona (March 26, 2000). "'Election' Elected by Spirit Awards". Hollywood.com. Archived from the original on December 1, 2007. Retrieved August 17, 2012.
↑ "'Election' Tallies Up 3 Big Wins at 15th Spirit Awards". Los Angeles Times . March 26, 2000. Retrieved August 17, 2012.
↑ "'Election' wins 3 Independent Spirit awards". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . March 27, 2000. Retrieved August 17, 2012.

External links

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[1] "'Election' voted best film in Spirit Awards". CNN.com . March 26, 2000.

[2] ""Election," "Limey" Up for Indie Oscars". E! Online. January 13, 2000. Archived from the original on January 22, 2013. Retrieved August 17, 2012.

[3] Bartoo, Jim (January 14, 2000). "'The Limey,' 'Election' Got the Spirit". Hollywood.com. Archived from the original on October 22, 2007. Retrieved August 17, 2012.

[4] Ng, Fiona (March 26, 2000). "'Election' Elected by Spirit Awards". Hollywood.com. Archived from the original on December 1, 2007. Retrieved August 17, 2012.

[5] "'Election' Tallies Up 3 Big Wins at 15th Spirit Awards". Los Angeles Times . March 26, 2000. Retrieved August 17, 2012.

[6] "'Election' wins 3 Independent Spirit awards". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette . March 27, 2000. Retrieved August 17, 2012.

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v t e Independent Spirit Awards
Current categories	Best Film Best Director Best Lead Performance Best Supporting Performance Best Breakthrough Performance Best Cinematography Best Editing Best Documentary Feature Best First Feature Best International Film Best Screenplay Best First Screenplay Best New Scripted Series Best Lead Performance in a New Scripted Series Best Supporting Performance in a New Scripted Series John Cassavetes Award Robert Altman Award
Retired categories	Best Male Lead Best Female Lead Best Supporting Male Best Supporting Female Best Male Performance in a New Scripted Series Best Female Performance in a New Scripted Series
Ceremonies	1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 (years are of film release; ceremonies are the following year)