The 1996 Independent Spirit Awards, honoring the best in independent filmmaking for 1996, were announced on March 22, 1997. It was hosted by Samuel L. Jackson.
Fargo
Dead Man
The Funeral
Loved
Welcome to the Dollhouse
Sling Blade
Big Night
I Shot Andy Warhol
Manny & Lo
Trees Lounge
Joel Coen – Fargo
Abel Ferrara – The Funeral
David O. Russell – Flirting with Disaster
Todd Solondz – Welcome to the Dollhouse
Robert M. Young – Caught
William H. Macy – Fargo
Chris Cooper – Lone Star
Chris Penn – The Funeral
Tony Shalhoub – Big Night
Stanley Tucci – Big Night
Frances McDormand – Fargo
María Conchita Alonso – Caught
Scarlett Johansson – Manny & Lo
Catherine Keener – Walking and Talking
Renée Zellweger – The Whole Wide World
Benicio del Toro – Basquiat
Kevin Corrigan – Walking and Talking
Matthew Faber – Welcome to the Dollhouse
Gary Farmer – Dead Man
Richard Jenkins – Flirting with Disaster
Elizabeth Peña – Lone Star
Mary Kay Place – Manny & Lo
Queen Latifah – Set It Off
Lili Taylor – Girls Town
Lily Tomlin – Flirting with Disaster
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
Big Night – Joseph Tropiano and Stanley Tucci
Girl 6 – Suzan-Lori Parks
Manny & Lo – Lisa Krueger
Trees Lounge – Steve Buscemi
The Whole Wide World – Michael Scott Myers
Fargo – Roger Deakins
Bound – Bill Pope
Color of a Brisk and Leaping Day – Rob Sweeney
Dead Man – Robby Müller
The Funeral – Ken Kelsch
Secrets & Lies • UK
Breaking the Waves • Denmark
Chungking Express • Hong Kong
Lamerica • Italy
Trainspotting • UK
Heather Matarazzo – Welcome to the Dollhouse
Jena Malone – Bastard Out of Carolina
Brendan Sexton III – Welcome to the Dollhouse
Arie Verveen – Caught
Jeffrey Wright – Basquiat
When We Were Kings
The Celluloid Closet
Looking for Richard
Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills
Troublesome Creek: A Midwestern
Larry Fessenden – Habit
Joe Brewster – The Keeper
Chris Smith – American Job
