Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature

Updated on Nov 21, 2024

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Category of Independent Spirit Awards
People also search for Independent Spirit Award for Best First Screenplay Winners & Nominees The WitchRobert Eggers - Rodrigo Teixeira - Lars Knudsen -, The Witch, Winner, The Childhood of a LeaderBrady Corbet - Mona Lerche - Antoine de Clermont-Tonnerre -, The Childhood of a Leader, Nominee, Other PeopleAdam Scott - Chris Kelly - Naomi Scott -, Other People, Nominee, Swiss Army ManDaniel Kwan - Daniel Scheinert - Jonathan Wang -, Swiss Army Man, Nominee, The FitsAnna Rose Holmer - Lisa Kjerulff, The Fits, Nominee, The Diary of a Teenage GirlMarielle Heller - Anne Carey - Bert Hamelinck -, The Diary of a Teenage Girl, Winner, MediterraneaChris Columbus - Jason Michael Berman - Jonas Carpignano -, Mediterranea, Nominee, Songs My Brothers Taught MeForest Whitaker - Nina Yang Bongiovi - Chloe Zhao -, Songs My Brothers Taught Me, Nominee, Manos SuciasJosef Kubota Wladyka - Elena Greenlee - Márcia Nunes, Manos Sucias, Nominee, James WhiteAntonio Campos - Sean Durkin - Josh Mond -, James White, Nominee, NightcrawlerJake Gyllenhaal - Tony Gilroy - Dan Gilroy -, Nightcrawler, Winner, A Girl Walks Home Alone at NightAna Lily Amirpour - Justin Begnaud - Sina Sayyah, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, Nominee, Obvious ChildGillian Robespierre - Elisabeth Holm, Obvious Child, Nominee, Dear White PeopleLena Waithe - Justin Simien - Effie T Brown -, Dear White People, Nominee, She's Lost ControlKiara C Jones - Anja Marquardt - Mollye Asher, She's Lost Control, Nominee, Fruitvale StationForest Whitaker - Ryan Coogler - Nina Yang Bongiovi, Fruitvale Station, Winner, Una NocheLucy Mulloy - Daniel Mulloy - Yunior Santiago -, Una Noche, Nominee, ConcussionStacie Passon - Rose Troche, Concussion, Nominee, WadjdaHaifaa al-Mansour - Roman Paul - Gerhard Meixner, Wadjda, Nominee, Blue CapriceAlexandre Moors - Ron Simons - Brian O'Carroll -, Blue Caprice, Nominee, The Perks of Being a WallflowerJohn Malkovich - Stephen Chbosky - Lianne Halfon -, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Winner, Sound of My VoiceBrit Marling - Zal Batmanglij - Hans Ritter -, Sound of My Voice, Nominee, Fill the VoidRama Burshtein - Assaf Amir, Fill the Void, Nominee, Safety Not GuaranteedColin Trevorrow - Derek Connolly - Marc Turtletaub -, Safety Not Guaranteed, Nominee, Gimme the LootAdam Leon - Jamund Washington - Dominic Buchanan -, Gimme the Loot, Nominee

Ryan coogler best first feature 2014 film independent spirit awards

The Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature is one of the annual Independent Spirit Awards. It is usually given to the director (or directors) and producer (or producers). The "first feature" designation is applied to the director not the producer(s). Therefore, producers have been nominated multiple times.

In 2000, this category was split into two separate categories: one for films with budgets over $500,000 and a new category, the Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award, which was restricted to films with budgets under $500,000. In 2001, films could be eligible regardless of their budget as long as it was feature film directorial debut.

1980s

1986: She's Gotta Have It – Spike Lee, director and producer

Belizaire the Cajun – Glen Pitre, director' Allan L. Durand, producer

A Great Wall – Peter Wang, director

Hoosiers – David Anspaugh, director; John Daly, Carter DeHaven, Derek Gibson and Angelo Pizzo, producers

True Stories – David Byrne, director; Gary Kurfirst, producer

1987: Dirty Dancing – Emile Ardolino, director; Linda Gottlieb, producer

Anna – Yurek Bogayevicz, director; Zanne Devine, producer

Hollywood Shuffle – Robert Townsend, director and producer; Carl Craig, producer

Siesta – Mary Lambert, director; Gary Kurfirst, producer

Waiting for the Moon – Jill Godmilow, director; Sandra Schulberg, producer

1988: Mystic Pizza – Donald Petrie, director; Mark Levinson and Scott M. Rosenfelt, producers

Border Radio – Allison Anders, Dean Lent and Kurt Voss; Marcus DeLeon, producer

The Chocolate War, Keith Gordon, director; Jonathan D. Krane, producer

The Prince of Pennsylvania – Ron Nyswaner, director; Jonathan D. Krane, producer

The Wash – Michael Toshiyuki Uno, director; Calvin Skaggs, producer

1989: Heathers – Michael Lehmann, director; Denise Di Novi, producer

84 Charlie Mopic – Patrick Sheane Duncan, director; Michael Nolan, producer

Powwow Highway – Jonathan Wacks, director; Jan Wieringa, producer

Sidewalk Stories – Charles Lane, director; Howard M. Brickner, producer

Talking to Strangers – Rob Tregenza, director; J.K. Eareckson, producer

1990s

1990: Metropolitan – Whit Stillman, director and producer

House Party – Reginald Hudlin, director; Warrington Hudlin, producer

Lightning Over Braddock – Tony Buba, director and producer

The Natural History of Parking Lots – Everett Lewis, director; Aziz Ghazal, producer

Twister – Michael Almereyda, director; Wieland Schulz-Keil, producer

1991: Straight Out of Brooklyn – Matty Rich, director and producer

Chameleon Street – Wendell B. Harris Jr., director and producer

Poison – Todd Haynes, director; Christine Vachon, producer

The Rapture – Michael Tolkin, director; Karen Koch, Nancy Tenenbaum and Nick Wechsler, producers

Slacker – Richard Linklater, director and producer

1992: The Waterdance – Neal Jimenez and Michael Steinberg, directors; Gale Anne Hurd, Marie Cantin and Guy Riedel, executive producer

Laws of Gravity – Nick Gomez, director; Bob Gosse and Larry Meistrich, producers

My New Gun – Stacy Cochran, director; Michael Flynn, producer

Reservoir Dogs – Quentin Tarantino, director; Lawrence Bender, producer

Swoon – Tom Kalin, director; Christine Vachon, producer

1993: El Mariachi – Robert Rodriguez, director and producer; Carlos Gallardo, producer

American Heart – Martin Bell, director; Jeff Bridges and Rosilyn Heller, producers

Combination Platter – Tony Chan, director and producer; Judy Moy, producer

Mac – John Turturro, director; Brenda Goodman and Nancy Tenenbaum, producers

Menace II Society – Allen and Albert Hughes, directors; Darin Scott, producer

1994: Spanking the Monkey – David O. Russell, director; Dean Silvers, producer

Clean, Shaven – Lodge Kerrigan, director and producer

Clerks – Kevin Smith, director and producer; Scott Mosier, producer

I Like It Like That – Darnell Martin, director; Lane Janger, producer

Suture – David Siegel and Scott McGehee, directors and producers; Michele Petin, producer

1995: The Brothers McMullen – Edward Burns, director; Dick Fisher, producer

Kids – Larry Clark, director; Cary Woods, producer

Little Odessa – James Gray, director; Paul Webster, producer

Picture Bride – Kayo Hatta, director; Diane Mei Lin Mark and Lisa Onodera, producers

River of Grass – Kelly Reichardt, director

1996: Sling Blade – Billy Bob Thornton, director; David L. Bushell and Brandon Rosser, producers

Big Night – Campbell Scott and Stanley Tucci, directors; Jonathan Filley, producer

I Shot Andy Warhol – Mary Harron, director; Tom Kalin and Christine Vachon, producers

Manny & Lo – Lisa Krueger, director; Marlen Hecht and Dean Silvers, producers

Trees Lounge – Steve Buscemi, director; Chris Hanley and Brad Wyman, producers

1997: Eve's Bayou – Kasi Lemmons, director; Caldecot Chubb and Samuel L. Jackson, producers

The Bible and Gun Club – Daniel J. Harris, director and producer

Hard Eight – Paul Thomas Anderson, director; Robert Jones and John S. Lyons, producers

In the Company of Men – Neil LaBute, director; Mark Archer and Stephen Pevner, producers

Star Maps – Miguel Arteta, director; Matthew Greenfield, producer

1998: The Opposite of Sex – Don Roos, director; David Kirkpatrick and Michael Besman, producers

Buffalo '66 – Vincent Gallo, director; Chris Hanley, producer

High Art – Lisa Cholodenko, director; Dolly Hall, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte and Susan A. Stover, producers

π – Darren Aronofsky, director; Eric Watson, producer

Slums of Beverly Hills – Tamara Jenkins, director; Michael Nozik and Stan Wlodkowski, producers

1999: Being John Malkovich – Spike Jonze, director; Michael Stipe, Sandy Stern, Steve Golin and Vincent Landay, producers

Boys Don't Cry – Kimberly Peirce, director; Jeffrey Sharp, John Hart, Eva Kolodner and Christine Vachon, producers

Three Seasons – Tony Bui, director; Jason Kliot and Joana Vicente, producers

Twin Falls Idaho – Michael Polish, director; Marshall Persinger, Rena Ronson and Steven J. Wolfe, producers

Xiu Xiu: The Sent Down Girl – Joan Chen, director and producer; Wai-Chung Chan, producer

2000s

NOTE: Beginning in 2000, nominees were restricted to film with budgets over $500,000. The Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award awarded first features that had budgets of less than $500,000.

2000: You Can Count on Me – Kenneth Lonergan, director; John Hart, Jeffrey Sharp, Barbara De Fina and Larry Meistrich, producers

Boiler Room – Ben Younger, director; Jennifer Todd and Suzanne Todd, producers

Girlfight – Karyn Kusama, director; Maggie Renzi, Sarah Green and Martha Griffin, producers.

Love & Basketball – Gina Prince-Bythewood, director; Spike Lee and Sam Kitt, producers

The Visit – Jordan Walker-Pearlman, director and producer

2001: In the Bedroom – Todd Field, director

The Anniversary Party – Alan Cumming and Jennifer Jason Leigh, directors

The Believer – Henry Bean, director

Donnie Darko – Richard Kelly, director

Ghost World – Terry Zwigoff, director

2002: The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys – Peter Care, director

Interview with the Assassin – Neil Burger, director

Manito – Eric Eason, director

Paid in Full – Charles Stone III, director

Roger Dodger – Dylan Kidd, director

2003: Monster – Patty Jenkins, director; Mark Damon, Donald Kushner, Clark Peterson, Charlize Theron and Brad Wyman, producers

Bomb the System – Adam Bhala Lough, director; Ben Rekhi and Sol Tryon, producers

House of Sand and Fog – Vadim Perelman, director and producer; Michael London, producer

Quattro Noza – Joey Curtis, director; Fredric King, producer

Thirteen – Catherine Hardwicke, director; Jeffrey Levy-Hinte and Michael London, producers

2004: Garden State – Zach Braff, director; Pamela Abdy, Gary Gilbert, Dan Halsted and Richard Klubeck, producers

Brother to Brother – Rodney Evans, director and producer; Jim McKay, Isen Robbins and Aimee Schoof, producers

Napoleon Dynamite – Jared Hess, director; Jeremy Coon, Sean Covel and Chris Wyatt, producers

Saints and Soldiers – Ryan Little, director and producer; Adam Abel, producer

The Woodsman – Nicole Kassell, director; Lee Daniels, producer

2005: Crash – Paul Haggis, director and producer; Cathy Schulman, Don Cheadle, Bob Yari, Mark R. Harris and Bobby Moresco, producers

Lackawanna Blues – George C. Wolfe, director; Halle Berry, Vince Cirrincione, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Nellie Nugiel and Shelby Stone

Me and You and Everyone We Know – Miranda July, director; Gina Kwon, producer

Thumbsucker – Mike Mills, director; Anthony Bregman and Bob Stephenson, producers

Transamerica – Duncan Tucker, director; Sebastian Dungan, Linda Moran and Rene Bastian, producers

2006: Sweet Land – Ali Selim, director; Alan Cumming and James Bigham, producers

Day Night Day Night – Julia Loktev, director; Melanie Judd and Jessica Levin, producers

Man Push Cart – Ramin Bahrani, director; Pradip Ghosh and Bedford T. Bentley, producers

The Motel – Michael Kang, director; Matthew Greenfield, Miguel Arteta, Gina Kwon and Karin Chien, producers

Wristcutters: A Love Story – Goran Dukić, director; Adam Sherman, Chris Coen, Tatiana Kelly and Mikal P. Lazarev, producers

2007: The Lookout – Scott Frank, director; Roger Birnbaum, Gary Barber, Laurence Mark and Walter F. Parkes, producers

2 Days in Paris – Julie Delpy, director; Christophe Mazodier and Thierry Potok, producers

Great World of Sound – Craig Zobel, director and producer; Melissa Palmer, David Gordon Green and Richard A. Wright, producers

Rocket Science – Jeffrey Blitz, director; Effie Brown and Sean Welch, producers

Vanaja – Rajnesh Domalpalli, director; Latha R. Domalapalli, producer

2008: Synecdoche, New York – Charlie Kaufman, director and producer; Anthony Bregman, Spike Jonze and Sidney Kimmel, producers

Afterschool – Antonio Campos, director; T. Sean Durkin and Josh Mond, producers

Medicine for Melancholy – Barry Jenkins, director; Justin Barber, producer

Sangre de Mi Sangre – Christopher Zalla, director; Per Melita and Ben Odell, producers

Sleep Dealer – Alex Rivera, director; Anthony Bregman, producer

2009: Crazy Heart – Scott Cooper, director and producer; Robert Duvall, Rob Carliner, Judy Cairo and T-Bone Burnett, producers

Easier with Practice – Kyle Patrick Alvarez, director; Cookie Carosella, producer

The Messenger – Oren Moverman, director; Mark Gordon, Lawrence Inglee and Zach Miller, producers

Paranormal Activity – Oren Peli, director and producer; Jason Blum, producer

A Single Man – Tom Ford, director and producer; Chris Weitz, Andrew Miano and Robert Salerno, producers

2010s

2010: Get Low – Aaron Schneider, director; Dean Zanuck and David Gundlach, producers

Everything Strange and New – Frazer Bradshaw, director; Laura Techera Francia and A.D. Liano, producers

The Last Exorcism – Daniel Stamm, director; Eric Newman, Eli Roth, Marc Abraham and Thomas A. Bliss, producers

Night Catches Us – Tanya Hamilton, director; Ronald Simon, Sean Costello and Jason Orans, producers

Tiny Furniture – Lena Dunham, director; Kyle Martin and Alicia Van Couvering, producers

2011: Margin Call – J. C. Chandor, director; Joe Jenckes, Robert Ogden Barnum, Corey Moosa, Michael Benaroya, Neal Dodson and Zachary Quinto, producers

Another Earth – Mike Cahill, director; Hunter Gray, Mike Cahill, Brit Marling and Nicholas Shumaker, producers

In the Family – Patrick Wang, director; Patrick Wang, Andrew van den Houten and Robert Tonino, producers

Martha Marcy May Marlene – Sean Durkin, director; Josh Mond, Antonio Campos, Chris Maybach and Patrick Cunningham, producers

Natural Selection – Robbie Pickering, director; Brion Hambell and Paul Jensen, producers

2012: The Perks of Being a Wallflower – Stephen Chbosky, director

Fill the Void – Rama Burshtein, director

Gimme the Loot – Adam Leon, director

Safety Not Guaranteed – Colin Trevorrow, director

Sound of My Voice – Zal Batmanglij, director

2013: Fruitvale Station – Ryan Coogler, director

Blue Caprice – Alexandre Moors, director

Concussion – Stacie Passon, director

Una Noche – Lucy Mulloy, director

Wadjda – Haifaa al-Mansour, director

2014: Nightcrawler – Dan Gilroy, director

Dear White People – Justin Simien, director

A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night – Ana Lily Amirpour, director

Obvious Child – Gillian Robespierre, director

She's Lost Control – Anja Marquardt, director

2015: The Diary of a Teenage Girl – Marielle Heller, director; Miranda Bailey, Anne Carey, Bert Hamelinck, and Madeline Samit, producers

James White – Josh Mond, director; Max Born, Antonio Campos, Sean Durkin, Melody Roscher, and Eric Schultz, producers

Manos Sucias – Josef Kubota Wladyka, director; Elena Greenlee and Márcia Nunes, producers

Mediterranea – Jonas Carpignano, director; Jason Michael Berman, Chris Columbus, Jon Coplon, Christoph Daniel, Andrew Kortschak, John Lesher, Ryan Lough, Justin Nappi, Alain Peyrollaz, Gwyn Sannia, Marc Schmidheiny, Victor Shapiro, and Ryan Zacarias, producers

Songs My Brother Taught Me – Chloé Zhao, director/producer; Mollye Asher, Nina Yang Bongiovi, Angela C. Lee, and Forest Whitaker, producers

2016: The Witch – Robert Eggers, director/producer; Daniel Bekerman, Jay Van Hoy, Lars Knudsen, Jodi Redmond, and Rodrigo Teixeira, producers

The Childhood of a Leader – Brady Corbet, director; Antoine de Clermont-Tonnerre, Chris Coen, Ron Curtis, Helena Danielsson, Mona Fastvold, István Major, producers

The Fits – Anna Rose Holmer, director/producer; Lisa Kjerulff, producer

Other People – Chris Kelly, director; Sam Bisbee, Adam Scott, and Naomi Scott, producers

Swiss Army Man – Daniel Scheinert and Daniel Kwan, directors; Miranda Bailey, Lawrence Inglee, Lauren Mann, Amanda Marshall, Eyal Rimmon, and Jonathan Wang, producers

References

Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature Wikipedia

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