Independent Spirit Award for Best Film

Independent Spirit Award for Best Film
Awarded for	Best Independent Film
Country	United States
Presented by	Film Independent
First award	1985
Currently held by	Anora (2024)
Website	filmindependent.org

The Independent Spirit Award for Best Film (or Best Feature) is one of the annual Independent Spirit Awards, presented to recognize the best in independent filmmaking, it was first awarded in 1985 with Martin Scorsese's film After Hours being the first recipient of the award.

Criteria

In order to be considered as an independent film and therefore being eligible to this category, nomination committees base their decision on four criteria, "uniqueness of vision, original, provocative subject matter, percentage of financing from independent sources and economy of means"; the latter refers to a budget ceiling of $22.5 million. ^[1] In 2022, Film Independent increased the budget cap for eligible films to $30 million to account for the rising cost of production. ^[2]

In the following lists, the first titles listed are winners. These are also in bold and in blue background; those not in bold are nominees.

Winners and nominees

1980s

Year	Winner	Director(s)	Distributing company(s)
1985 [3]	After Hours	Martin Scorsese	The Geffen Film Company/Warner Bros.
	Blood Simple	Joel Coen and Ethan Coen	Circle Films
	Smooth Talk	Joyce Chopra	Goldcrest Films
	The Trip to Bountiful	Peter Masterson	Island Pictures
1986	Platoon	Oliver Stone	Orion Pictures
	Blue Velvet	David Lynch	De Laurentiis Entertainment Group
	Down by Law	Jim Jarmusch	Island Pictures
	On Valentine's Day	Ken Harrison	Angelika Films
	Salvador	Oliver Stone	Hemdale Film Corporation
	Stand by Me	Rob Reiner	Columbia Pictures
1987	River's Edge	Tim Hunter	Island Pictures
	The Big Easy	Jim McBride	Columbia Pictures
	The Dead	John Huston	Vestron Pictures
	Matewan	John Sayles	Cinecom Pictures
	Swimming to Cambodia	Jonathan Demme	Cinecom Pictures
	Tough Guys Don't Dance	Norman Mailer	The Cannon Group, Inc.
1988	Stand and Deliver	Ramon Menendez	American Playhouse/Warner Bros.
	Hairspray	John Waters	New Line Cinema
	Patti Rocks	David Burton Morris	FilmDallas Pictures
	The Thin Blue Line	Errol Morris	Miramax Films
	Torch Song Trilogy	Paul Bogart	New Line Cinema
1989	Sex, Lies, and Videotape	Steven Soderbergh	Miramax Films
	Drugstore Cowboy	Gus Van Sant	International Video Entertainment
	Heat and Sunlight	Rob Nilsson	Silverlight Pictures
	Mystery Train	Jim Jarmusch	Orion Classics
	True Love	Nancy Savoca	United Artists

1990s

Year	Winner	Director(s)	Distributing company(s)
1990	The Grifters	Stephen Frears	Miramax Films
	Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer	John McNaughton	Greycat Films
	The Plot Against Harry	Michael Roemer	New Yorker Films
	Pump Up the Volume	Allan Moyle	New Line Cinema
	To Sleep with Anger	Charles Burnett	The Samuel Goldwyn Company
1991	Rambling Rose	Martha Coolidge	New Line/Seven Arts
	City of Hope	John Sayles	The Samuel Goldwyn Company
	Hangin' with the Homeboys	Joseph Vasquez	New Line Cinema
	Homicide	David Mamet	Triumph Films
	My Own Private Idaho	Gus Van Sant	Fine Line Features
1992	The Player	Robert Altman	Fine Line Features
	Bad Lieutenant	Abel Ferrara	Aries Films
	Gas Food Lodging	Allison Anders	Cineville
	Mississippi Masala	Mira Nair	The Samuel Goldwyn Company
	One False Move	Carl Franklin	I.R.S. Releasing
1993	Short Cuts	Robert Altman	Fine Line Features
	Equinox	Alan Rudolph	IRS Media
	Much Ado About Nothing	Kenneth Branagh	The Samuel Goldwyn Company
	Ruby in Paradise	Victor Nuñez	October Films
	The Wedding Banquet	Ang Lee	The Samuel Goldwyn Company
1994	Pulp Fiction	Quentin Tarantino	Miramax Films
	Bullets over Broadway	Woody Allen	Miramax Films
	Eat Drink Man Woman	Ang Lee	The Samuel Goldwyn Company
	Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle	Alan Rudolph	Fine Line Features
	Wes Craven's New Nightmare	Wes Craven	New Line Cinema
1995	Leaving Las Vegas	Mike Figgis	United Artists
	The Addiction	Abel Ferrara	October Films
	Living in Oblivion	Tom DiCillo	Sony Pictures Classics
	Safe	Todd Haynes	Sony Pictures Classics
	The Secret of Roan Inish	John Sayles	Sony Pictures Classics
1996	Fargo	Joel Coen	Gramercy Pictures
	Dead Man	Jim Jarmusch	Miramax Films
	The Funeral	Abel Ferrara	October Films
	Lone Star	John Sayles	Sony Pictures Classics
	Welcome to the Dollhouse	Todd Solondz	Sony Pictures Classics
1997	The Apostle	Robert Duvall	October Films
	Chasing Amy	Kevin Smith	Miramax Films
	Loved	Erin Dignam	MDP Worldwide
	Ulee's Gold	Victor Nuñez	Orion Pictures
	Waiting for Guffman	Christopher Guest	Sony Pictures Classics
1998	Gods and Monsters	Bill Condon	Lionsgate Films
	Affliction	Paul Schrader	Lionsgate Films
	Claire Dolan	Lodge Kerrigan	New Yorker Films
	A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries	James Ivory	October Films
	Velvet Goldmine	Todd Haynes	Miramax Films
1999 [4] [5]	Election	Alexander Payne	Paramount Pictures/MTV Films
	Cookie's Fortune	Robert Altman	October Films
	The Limey	Steven Soderbergh	Artisan Entertainment
	The Straight Story	David Lynch	Walt Disney Pictures
	Sugar Town	Allison Anders and Kurt Voss	October Films/USA Films

2000s

Year	Winner	Director(s)	Distributing company(s)
2000 [6]	Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon	Ang Lee	Sony Pictures Classics
	Before Night Falls	Julian Schnabel	Fine Line Features
	George Washington	David Gordon Green	ContentFilm International
	Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai	Jim Jarmusch	Artisan Entertainment
	Requiem for a Dream	Darren Aronofsky
2001 [7]	Memento	Christopher Nolan	Newmarket Films
	Hedwig and the Angry Inch	John Cameron Mitchell	Fine Line Features
	L.I.E.	Michael Cuesta	New Yorker Films
	Things Behind the Sun	Allison Anders	Showtime Networks
	Waking Life	Richard Linklater	Fox Searchlight
2002 [8]	Far from Heaven	Todd Haynes	Focus Features
	The Good Girl	Miguel Arteta	Fox Searchlight
	Lovely & Amazing	Nicole Holofcener	Lionsgate Films
	Secretary	Steven Shainberg
	Tully	Hilary Birmingham	Small Planet Pictures
2003 [9]	Lost in Translation	Sofia Coppola	Focus Features
	American Splendor	Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini	Fine Line Features/HBO Films
	In America	Jim Sheridan	Fox Searchlight
	Raising Victor Vargas	Peter Sollett	Samuel Goldwyn Films
	Shattered Glass	Billy Ray	Lions Gate Films
2004 [10]	Sideways	Alexander Payne	Fox Searchlight
	Baadasssss!	Mario Van Peebles	Sony Pictures Classics
	Kinsey	Bill Condon	Fox Searchlight
	Maria Full of Grace	Joshua Marston	Fine Line Features
	Primer	Shane Carruth	THINKFilm
2005 [11]	Brokeback Mountain	Ang Lee	Focus Features
	Capote	Bennett Miller	Sony Pictures Classics
	Good Night, and Good Luck	George Clooney	Warner Independent Pictures
	The Squid and the Whale	Noah Baumbach	Samuel Goldwyn Films
	The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada	Tommy Lee Jones	Sony Pictures Classics
2006 [12]	Little Miss Sunshine	Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris	Fox Searchlight
	American Gun	Aric Avelino	IFC Films
	The Dead Girl	Karen Moncrieff	First Look International
	Half Nelson	Ryan Fleck	THINKFilm
	Pan's Labyrinth	Guillermo del Toro	Picturehouse
2007 [13]	Juno	Jason Reitman	Fox Searchlight
	The Diving Bell and the Butterfly	Julian Schnabel	Miramax Films
	I'm Not There	Todd Haynes	The Weinstein Company
	A Mighty Heart	Michael Winterbottom	Paramount Vantage
	Paranoid Park	Gus Van Sant	IFC Films
2008 [14]	The Wrestler	Darren Aronofsky	Fox Searchlight
	Ballast	Lance Hammer	Alluvial Film Company
	Frozen River	Courtney Hunt	Sony Pictures Classics
	Rachel Getting Married	Jonathan Demme
	Wendy and Lucy	Kelly Reichardt	Oscilloscope Pictures
2009 [15]	Precious	Lee Daniels	Lionsgate
	(500) Days of Summer	Marc Webb	Fox Searchlight
	Amreeka	Cherien Dabis	National Geographic Entertainment
	The Last Station	Michael Hoffman	Sony Pictures Classics
	Sin Nombre	Cary Fukunaga	Focus Features

2010s

Year	Winner	Director(s)	Distributing company(s)
2010 [16]	Black Swan	Darren Aronofsky	Fox Searchlight
	127 Hours	Danny Boyle	Fox Searchlight
	Greenberg	Noah Baumbach	Focus Features
	The Kids Are All Right	Lisa Cholodenko
	Winter's Bone	Debra Granik	Roadside Attractions
2011 [17]	The Artist	Michel Hazanavicius	The Weinstein Company
	50/50	Jonathan Levine	Summit Entertainment
	Beginners	Mike Mills	Focus Features
	The Descendants	Alexander Payne	Fox Searchlight
	Drive	Nicolas Winding Refn	FilmDistrict
	Take Shelter	Jeff Nichols	Sony Pictures Classics
2012 [18]	Silver Linings Playbook	David O. Russell	The Weinstein Company
	Beasts of the Southern Wild	Benh Zeitlin	Fox Searchlight
	Bernie	Richard Linklater	Millennium Entertainment
	Keep the Lights On	Ira Sachs	Music Box Films
	Moonrise Kingdom	Wes Anderson	Focus Features
2013 [19]	12 Years a Slave	Steve McQueen	Fox Searchlight
	All Is Lost	J. C. Chandor	Lionsgate
	Frances Ha	Noah Baumbach	IFC Films
	Inside Llewyn Davis	Joel Coen and Ethan Coen	CBS Films
	Nebraska	Alexander Payne	Paramount Vantage
2014 [20]	Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)	Alejandro G. Iñárritu	Fox Searchlight
	Boyhood	Richard Linklater	IFC Films
	Love Is Strange	Ira Sachs	Sony Pictures Classics
	Selma	Ava DuVernay	Paramount Pictures
	Whiplash	Damien Chazelle	Sony Pictures Classics
2015 [21]	Spotlight	Tom McCarthy	Open Road Films
	Anomalisa	Charlie Kaufman and Duke Johnson	Paramount Pictures
	Beasts of No Nation	Cary Joji Fukunaga	Bleecker Street/Netflix
	Carol	Todd Haynes	The Weinstein Company
	Tangerine	Sean Baker	Magnolia Pictures
2016 [22]	Moonlight	Barry Jenkins	A24
	American Honey	Andrea Arnold	A24
	Chronic	Michel Franco	Monument Releasing
	Jackie	Pablo Larraín	Fox Searchlight
	Manchester by the Sea	Kenneth Lonergan	Amazon Studios/Roadside Attractions
2017 [23]	Get Out	Jordan Peele	Universal Pictures/Blumhouse Productions
	Call Me by Your Name	Luca Guadagnino	Sony Pictures Classics
	The Florida Project	Sean Baker	A24
	Lady Bird	Greta Gerwig
	The Rider	Chloé Zhao	Sony Pictures Classics
2018 [24]	If Beale Street Could Talk	Barry Jenkins	Annapurna Pictures
	Eighth Grade	Bo Burnham	A24
	First Reformed	Paul Schrader
	Leave No Trace	Debra Granik	Bleecker Street
	You Were Never Really Here	Lynne Ramsay	Amazon Studios
2019 [25]	The Farewell	Lulu Wang	A24
	A Hidden Life	Terrence Malick	Fox Searchlight
	Clemency	Chinonye Chukwu	Neon
	Marriage Story	Noah Baumbach	Netflix
	Uncut Gems	Benny Safdie and Joshua Safdie	A24

2020s

Year	Winner	Director(s)	Distributing company(s)
2020 [26] [27]	Nomadland	Chloé Zhao	Searchlight Pictures
	First Cow	Kelly Reichardt	A24
	Ma Rainey's Black Bottom	George C. Wolfe	Netflix
	Minari	Lee Isaac Chung	A24
	Never Rarely Sometimes Always	Eliza Hittman	Focus Features
2021 [28]	The Lost Daughter	Maggie Gyllenhaal	Netflix
	A Chiara	Jonas Carpignano	Neon
	C’mon C’mon	Mike Mills	A24
	The Novice	Lauren Hadaway	IFC Films
	Zola	Janicza Bravo	A24
2022 [29]	Everything Everywhere All at Once	Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert	A24
	Bones and All	Luca Guadagnino	MGM/United Artists Releasing
	Our Father, the Devil	Ellie Foumbi	Resolve Media
	Tár	Todd Field	Focus Features
	Women Talking	Sarah Polley	MGM/United Artists Releasing
2023 [30]	Past Lives	Celine Song	A24
	All of Us Strangers	Andrew Haigh	Searchlight Pictures
	American Fiction	Cord Jefferson	Orion Pictures/Amazon MGM Studios
	May December	Todd Haynes	Netflix
	Passages	Ira Sachs	Mubi
	We Grown Now	Minhal Baig	Sony Pictures Classics
2024 [31] [32]	Anora	Sean Baker	Neon
	I Saw the TV Glow	Jane Schoenbrun	A24
	Nickel Boys	RaMell Ross	Orion Pictures/Amazon MGM Studios
	Sing Sing	Greg Kwedar	A24
	The Substance	Coralie Fargeat	Mubi
2025 [33]	Peter Hujar's Day	Ira Sachs	Janus Films/Sideshow
	The Plague	Charlie Polinger	Independent Film Company
	Sorry, Baby	Eva Victor	A24
	Train Dreams	Clint Bentley	Netflix
	Twinless	James Sweeney	Lionsgate Films/Roadside Attractions

Distributors with most wins and nominations (2 or more)

• Columbia/Sony Pictures Classics - 20 (one win)
• Fox Searchlight/Searchlight Pictures - 17 (eight wins)
• A24 - 15 (four wins)
• Universal/Focus Features - 13 (four wins)
• Miramax - 9 (three wins)
• Samuel Goldwyn - 8 (no wins)
• Lionsgate - 8 (two wins)
• Fine Line Features - 7 (two wins)
• October Films - 7 (one win)
• IFC Films - 6 (no wins)
• MGM/United Artists/Amazon - 6 (one win)
• New Line Cinema - 6 (one win)
• Netflix - 6 (one win)
• Paramount/Paramount Vantage - 5 (one win)
• The Weinstein Company - 4 (two wins)
• Orion Pictures - 4 (one win)
• Warner Bros/Warner Independent Films - 3 (two wins)
• Island Pictures - 3 (one win)
• Neon - 3 (one win)
• Artisan Entertainment - 3 (no wins)
• New Yorker Films - 3 (no wins)
• Bleecker Street - 2 (no wins)
• Mubi - 2 (no wins)

References

1. "FAQ". Film Independent. Retrieved December 24, 2021.
2. Hammond, Pete (2022-08-23). "Spirit Awards Set 2023 Date, Go Gender-Neutral And Increase Budget Cap". Deadline. Retrieved 2023-10-17.
3. Film Independent Spirit Awards - 34 Years of Nominees and Winners
4. "'The Limey,' 'Election' Got the Spirit". Hollywood.com. January 14, 2000. Retrieved August 17, 2012.
5. "'Election' Elected by Spirit Awards". Hollywood.com. March 26, 2000. Retrieved August 17, 2012.
6. "Tiger Takes 3 Spirit Awards". ABC News. March 24, 2001. Retrieved August 19, 2012.
7. ""Memento" Has the Spirit". E! Online. March 23, 2002. Retrieved August 19, 2012.
8. Hernandez, Eugene; Brooks, Brian (March 22, 2003). ""Far From Heaven" Sweeps 2003 Independent Spirit Awards". IndieWire . Retrieved August 20, 2012.
9. Hernandez, Eugene (February 28, 2004). ""Lost In Translation" Tops Independent Spirit Awards, "Station Agent" Another Big Winner". IndieWire . Retrieved August 20, 2012.
10. Hernandez, Eugene (February 28, 2005). "Sideways Wins Six at Independent Spirit Awards". IndieWire . Retrieved August 21, 2012.
11. Germain, David (March 4, 2006). "'Brokeback' named best independent film". USA Today . Retrieved August 21, 2012.
12. McNary, Dave (February 24, 2007). "'Sunshine' brightens Spirit Awards". Variety . Retrieved August 21, 2012.
13. Siegel, Tatiana (February 23, 2008). "'Juno' tops Spirit Awards". Variety . Retrieved August 22, 2012.
14. Brooks, Brian (February 21, 2009). ""The Wrestler" Leads 2009 Spirit Award Winners". IndieWire . Retrieved August 25, 2012.
15. Breznican, Anthony (March 6, 2010). "'Precious' dominates Spirit Awards with 5 prizes". USA Today . Retrieved August 25, 2012.
16. Knegt, Peter (February 27, 2011). ""Black Swan" Lead Spirit Award Winners". IndieWire . Retrieved August 25, 2012.
17. McNary, Dave (February 25, 2012). "'The Artist' dominates Spirit Awards". Variety . Retrieved August 26, 2012.
18. "Independent Spirit Awards 2013: Winners List". The Hollywood Reporter . February 23, 2013. Retrieved February 23, 2013.
19. Atkinson, Katie. "Independent Spirit Awards 2014: The winners list". Entertainment Weekly . Archived from the original on February 26, 2020. Retrieved February 9, 2020.
20. "Spirit Awards 2015: The Complete Winners List". The Hollywood Reporter . February 21, 2015. Retrieved February 9, 2020.
21. "Spirit Awards 2016: Complete Winners List". Variety . February 27, 2016. Retrieved February 9, 2020.
22. Earl, William (February 26, 2017). "2017 Independent Spirit Awards: Full Winners List". IndieWire . Retrieved February 9, 2020.
23. Nyren, Erin (March 3, 2018). "2018 Independent Spirit Awards: Winners List (Updating Live)". Variety . Retrieved February 9, 2020.
24. Welk, Brian (February 24, 2019). "Independent Spirit Awards 2019: Complete Winners List". TheWrap . Retrieved February 9, 2020.
25. D'Alessandro, Anthony; Blyth, Antonia (February 8, 2020). "Independent Spirit Awards Redresses Female Balance With Wins For Lulu Wang, Olivia Wilde & Julia Reichert – Complete Winners List". Deadline . Retrieved February 9, 2020.
26. Grobar, Matt (April 22, 2021). "'Nomadland' Wins Independent Spirit Awards For Best Picture, Director, Editing & Cinematography, Further Solidifying Oscars Prospects". Deadline . Retrieved December 24, 2021.
27. Sharf, Zack (April 23, 2021). "2021 Independent Spirit Awards Winner's List". IndieWire . Retrieved December 24, 2021.
28. Long, Brent; Tangcay, Jazz (December 14, 2021). "Indie Spirit Awards 2022: Full List of Nominations". Variety . Retrieved December 14, 2021.
29. Davis, Clayton (November 22, 2022). "Independent Spirit Awards Nominations: 'Everything Everywhere' Leads With Eight Noms". Variety . Retrieved November 22, 2022.
30. "Film Independent Spirit Awards (2024)". IMDb. Retrieved 2024-02-25.
31. D'Alessandro, Anthony (2024-12-04). "Spirit Awards Best Feature Nominees Include 'Anora', 'I Saw The TV Glow', 'Nickel Boys', 'Sing Sing' & 'The Substance'". Deadline. Retrieved 2024-12-04.
32. Lattanzio, Ryan (December 4, 2024). "'Anora' and 'I Saw the TV Glow' Lead Spirit Award Noms with Six Each — See the Full List". IndieWire . Retrieved December 5, 2024.
33. Spirit Awards 2026 Nominations: Full List – Variety

External links

• Every BEST FEATURE winner on the official Film Independent YouTube channel