Independent Spirit Award for Best Screenplay

The Film Independent's Spirit Award for Best Screenplay is one of the annual Independent Spirit Awards.

Winners and nominees

1985

• 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 – Ramon Menendez and Tom Musca
• Five Corners – John Patrick Shanley
• Hairspray – John Waters
• The Moderns – Alan Rudolph and John 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

1990

• To Sleep with Anger – Charles Burnett
• Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer – John McNaughton and Richard Fire
• Metropolitan – Whit Stillman
• The Plot Against Harry – Michael Roemer
• Pump Up the Volume – Allan Moyle

1991

• My Own Private Idaho – Gus Van Sant
• Hangin' with the Homeboys – Joseph Vasquez
• Kafka – Lem Dobbs
• Mindwalk – Floyd Byars and Fritjof Capra
• The Rapture – Michael Tolkin

1992

• The Waterdance – Neal Jimenez
• Gas Food Lodging – Allison Anders
• Light Sleeper – Paul Schrader
• A Midnight Clear – Keith Gordon
• One False Move – Billy Bob Thornton and Tom Epperson

1993

• Short Cuts – Robert Altman and Frank Barhydt
• Combination Platter – Edwin Baker and Tony Chan
• Household Saints – Nancy Savoca and Richard Guay
• Ruby in Paradise – Victor Nuñez
• The Wedding Banquet – Ang Lee, Neil Peng, and James Schamus

1994

• Pulp Fiction – Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avary
• Bullets over Broadway – Woody Allen and Douglas McGrath
• Eat Drink Man Woman – Hui-Ling Wang, James Schamus, and Ang Lee
• Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle – Alan Rudolph and Randy Sue Coburn
• Red Rock West – John Dahl and Rick Dahl

1995

• The Usual Suspects – Christopher McQuarrie
• Leaving Las Vegas – Mike Figgis
• Living in Oblivion – Tom DiCillo
• Safe – Todd Haynes
• The Secret of Roan Inish – John Sayles

1996

• Fargo – Joel Coen and Ethan Coen
• Dead Man – Jim Jarmusch
• Flirting with Disaster – David O. Russell
• The Funeral – Nicholas St. John
• Lone Star – John Sayles

1997

• Chasing Amy – Kevin Smith
• The Apostle – Robert Duvall
• Touch – Paul Schrader
• Ulee's Gold – Victor Nuñez
• Waiting for Guffman – Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy

1998

• The Opposite of Sex – Don Roos
• Affliction – Paul Schrader
• Blind Faith – Frank Military
• Gods and Monsters – Bill Condon
• The Spanish Prisoner – David Mamet

1999

• Election – Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor
• Dogma – Kevin Smith
• Guinevere – Audrey Wells
• The Limey – Lem Dobbs
• SLC Punk! – James Merendino

2000

• You Can Count On Me – Kenneth Lonergan
• Chuck & Buck – Mike White
• Love & Sex – Valerie Breiman
• Two Family House – Raymond De Felitta
• Waking the Dead – Robert Dillon

2001

• Memento – Christopher Nolan
• The Believer – Henry Bean
• In the Bedroom – Robert Festinger and Todd Field
• Monster's Ball – Milo Addica and Will Rokos
• Waking Life – Richard Linklater

2002

• The Good Girl – Mike White
• Lovely & Amazing – Nicole Holofcener
• Roger Dodger – Dylan Kidd
• Thirteen Conversations About One Thing – Jill Sprecher and Karen Sprecher
• Tully – Hilary Birmingham and Matt Drake

2003

• Lost in Translation – Sofia Coppola
• American Splendor – Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini
• A Mighty Wind – Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy (and the rest of the cast)
• Pieces of April – Peter Hedges
• Shattered Glass – Billy Ray

2004

• Sideways – Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor
• Baadasssss! – Mario Van Peebles and Dennis Haggerty
• Before Sunset – Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, and Ethan Hawke
• The Door in the Floor – Tod Williams
• Kinsey – Bill Condon

2005

• Capote – Dan Futterman
• Nine Lives – Rodrigo García
• The Squid and the Whale – Noah Baumbach
• The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada – Guillermo Arriaga
• The War Within – Ayad Akhtar, Joseph Castelo, and Tom Glynn

2006

• Thank You for Smoking – Jason Reitman[1]
• Friends with Money – Nicole Holofcener
• The Illusionist – Neil Burger
• The Painted Veil – Ron Nyswaner
• Sorry, Haters – Jeff Stanzler

2007

• The Savages – Tamara Jenkins
• The Diving Bell and the Butterfly – Ronald Harwood
• Starting Out in the Evening – Fred Parnes and Andrew Wagner
• Waitress – Adrienne Shelly
• Year of the Dog – Mike White

2008

• Vicky Cristina Barcelona – Woody Allen
• Sangre de Mi Sangre – Christopher Zalla
• Savage Grace – Howard A. Rodman
• Sugar – Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck
• Synecdoche, New York – Charlie Kaufman

2009

• (500) Days of Summer – Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber
• Adventureland – Greg Mottola
• The Last Station – Michael Hoffman
• The Messenger – Alessandro Camon and Oren Moverman
• The Vicious Kind – Lee Toland Krieger

2010

• The Kids Are All Right – Stuart Blumberg and Lisa Cholodenko[2]
• Life During Wartime – Todd Solondz
• Please Give – Nicole Holofcener
• Rabbit Hole – David Lindsay-Abaire
• Winter's Bone – Debra Granik and Anne Rosellini

2011

• The Descendants – Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, and Jim Rash
• The Artist – Michel Hazanavicius
• Beginners – Mike Mills
• Footnote – Joseph Cedar
• Win Win – Tom McCarthy

2012

• Silver Linings Playbook – David O. Russell
• Keep the Lights On – Ira Sachs and Mauricio Zacharias
• Moonrise Kingdom – Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola
• Ruby Sparks – Zoe Kazan
• Seven Psychopaths – Martin McDonagh

2013

• 12 Years a Slave – John Ridley
• Before Midnight – Richard Linklater, Ethan Hawke, and Julie Delpy
• Blue Jasmine – Woody Allen
• Enough Said – Nicole Holofcener
• The Spectacular Now – Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber

2014

• Nightcrawler – Dan Gilroy[3]
• Big Eyes – Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski
• Love Is Strange – Ira Sachs and Mauricio Zacharias
• A Most Violent Year – J. C. Chandor
• Only Lovers Left Alive – Jim Jarmusch

2015

• Spotlight – Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer
• Anomalisa – Charlie Kaufman
• Bone Tomahawk – S. Craig Zahler
• Carol – Phyllis Nagy
• The End of the Tour – Donald Margulies

2016

• Moonlight – Barry Jenkins and Tarell Alvin McCraney (story by)[4]
• 20th Century Women – Mike Mills
• Hell or High Water – Taylor Sheridan
• Little Men – Ira Sachs and Mauricio Zacharias
• Manchester by the Sea – Kenneth Lonergan

2017

• Lady Bird – Greta Gerwig
• Beatriz at Dinner – Mike White
• Get Out – Jordan Peele
• The Lovers – Azazel Jacobs
• Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri – Martin McDonagh

2018

• Can You Ever Forgive Me? - Nicole Holofcener & Jeff Whitty
• Colette - Richard Glatzer, Rebecca Lenkiewicz & Wash Westmoreland
• First Reformed - Paul Schrader
• Private Life - Tamara Jenkins
• Sorry to Bother You - Boots Riley

2019

• Marriage Story — Noah Baumbach
• Clemency — Chinonye Chukwu
• High Flying Bird — Tarell Alvin McCraney
• To Dust — Jason Begue & Shawn Snyder
• Uncut Gems — Ronald Bronstein, Safdie brothers[5]

2020

• Bad Education – Mike Makowsky
• The Half of It – Alice Wu
• Minari – Lee Isaac Chung
• Never Rarely Sometimes Always – Eliza Hittman
• Promising Young Woman – Emerald Fennell

See also

• Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay
• Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay
• Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay

References

1. "SFFILM to Honor Academy Award Winner Charlize Theron with Special Tribute at 2018 San Francisco International Film Festival". SFFILM. March 1, 2018.
2. "Spirit Awards: 'The Kids Are All Right' wins best screenplay". February 26, 2011.
3. "Spirit Awards 2015: 'Nightcrawler' Wins Best Screenplay". The Hollywood Reporter.
4. O'Falt, Chris (February 25, 2017). ""Moonlight" Wins the Independent Spirit Award for Best Screenplay".
5. "34 Years of Nominees and Winners" (PDF). Film Independent Spirit Awards. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-12-30.