Independent Spirit Award for Best Screenplay | |
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Awarded for | Best Screenplay |
Country | United States |
Presented by | Film Independent |
First award | 1985 |
Currently held by | Cord Jefferson for American Fiction (2023) |
Website | www |
The Independent Spirit Award for Best Screenplay is one of the annual awards given out by Film Independent, a non-profit organization dedicated to independent film and independent filmmakers. It was first presented in 1985 with Horton Foote being the first winner of the awards for The Trip to Bountiful .
The category includes both original and adapted screenplays. Despite the creation of the Best First Screenplay category in 1994, first screenplays are also eligible to compete for this award.
Alexander Payne is the most awarded writer in the category with three wins, followed by Neal Jimenez, Gus Van Sant and Jim Taylor with two wins each. Sofia Coppola was the first female writer to win the award.
Year | Film | Recipient(s) |
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1985 [1] [2] | The Trip to Bountiful | Horton Foote |
After Hours | Joseph Minion | |
Blood Simple | Joel Coen and Ethan Coen | |
Smooth Talk | Tom Cole | |
1986 | Platoon | Oliver Stone |
Blue Velvet | David Lynch | |
A Great Wall | Peter Wang and Shirley Sun | |
Salvador | Oliver Stone and Richard Boyle | |
Stand by Me | Raynold Gideon and Bruce A. Evans | |
1987 | River's Edge | Neal Jimenez |
Anna | Agnieszka Holland | |
The Dead | Tony Huston | |
Matewan | John Sayles | |
Swimming to Cambodia | Spalding Gray | |
1988 | Stand and Deliver | Ramón Menéndez and Tom Musca |
Five Corners | John Patrick Shanley | |
Hairspray | John Waters | |
The Moderns | Alan Rudolph and Jon Bradshaw | |
Patti Rocks | John Jenkins, Karen Landry, David Burton Morris, and Chris Mulkey | |
1989 | Drugstore Cowboy | Gus Van Sant and Daniel Yost |
84 Charlie Mopic | Patrick Sheane Duncan | |
Heathers | Daniel Waters | |
Miracle Mile | Steve De Jarnatt | |
Mystery Train | Jim Jarmusch | |