# Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female

The Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female was an award presented annually by Film Independent. It is given in honor of an actress who has delivered an absolutely outstanding performance in a supporting role while working in an independent film. It was first presented in 1985 with Anjelica Huston being the first recipient of the award for her role as Gretta Conroy in The Dead. It was last presented in 2022 with Ruth Negga being the final recipient of the award for her role in Passing.
In 2022, it was announced that the four acting categories would be retired and replaced with two gender neutral categories, with both Best Supporting Male and Best Supporting Female merging into the Best Supporting Performance category.
Since its inception, the award has been given to 33 actresses. With 3 nominations, Allison Janney is the most nominated female in this category (finally winning one for her performance in I, Tonya).

## Winners and nominees
### 1980s

| Year | Actress | Film | Role |
| 1987 | Anjelica Huston | The Dead | Gretta Conroy |
| 1987 | Karen Allen | The Glass Menagerie | Laura Wingfield |
| 1987 | Kathy Baker | Street Smart | Punchy |
| 1987 | Martha Plimpton | Shy People | Grace |
| 1987 | Ann Sothern | The Whales of August | Tisha Doughty |
| 1988 | Rosanna DeSoto | Stand and Deliver | Fabiola Escalante |
| 1988 | Bonnie Bedelia | The Prince of Pennsylvania | Pam Marshetta |
| 1988 | Debbie Harry | Hairspray | Velma Von Tussle |
| 1988 | Amy Madigan | The Prince of Pennsylvania | Carla Headlee |
| 1988 | Patti Yasutake | The Wash | Marsha |
| 1989 | Laura San Giacomo | Sex, Lies, and Videotape | Cynthia Patrice Bishop |
| 1989 | Bridget Fonda | Shag | Melaina Buller |
| 1989 | Heather Graham | Drugstore Cowboy | Nadine |
| 1989 | Mare Winningham | Miracle Mile | Julie Peters |
| 1989 | Mary Woronov | Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills | Lisabeth Hepburn-Saravian |

### 1990s

| Year | Actress | Film | Role |
| 1990 | Sheryl Lee Ralph | To Sleep with Anger | Linda |
| 1990 | Tracy Arnold | Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer | Becky |
| 1990 | Ethel Ayler | To Sleep with Anger | Hattie |
| 1990 | Tisha Campbell-Martin | House Party | Sidney |
| 1990 | Adrienne-Joi Johnson | House Party | Sharane |
| 1991 | Diane Ladd | Rambling Rose | Mother |
| 1991 | Sheila McCarthy | Bright Angel | Nina |
| 1991 | Deirdre O'Connell | Pastime | Inez Brice |
| 1991 | Emma Thompson | Impromptu | Duchess D'Antan |
| 1991 | Mary B. Ward | Hangin' with the Homeboys | Luna |
| 1992 | Alfre Woodard | Passion Fish | Chantelle |
| 1992 | Brooke Adams | Gas Food Lodging | Nora |
| 1992 | Sara Gilbert | Poison Ivy | Sylvie Cooper |
| 1992 | Karen Sillas | Simple Men | Kate |
| 1992 | Danitra Vance | Jumpin' at the Boneyard | Jeanette |
| 1993 | Lili Taylor | Household Saints | Teresa Carmela Santangelo |
| 1993 | Lara Flynn Boyle | Equinox | Beverly Franks |
| 1993 | Gua Ah-leh | The Wedding Banquet | Mrs. Gao |
| 1993 | Lucinda Jenney | American Heart | Charlotte |
| 1993 | Julianne Moore | Short Cuts | Marian Wyman |
| 1994 | Dianne Wiest | Bullets over Broadway | Helen Sinclair |
| 1994 | V.S. Brodie | Go Fish | Ely |
| 1994 | Carla Gallo | Spanking the Monkey | Toni Peck |
| 1994 | Kelly Lynch | The Beans of Egypt, Maine | Roberta Bean |
| 1994 | Brooke Smith | Vanya on 42nd Street | Sonya |
| 1995 | Mare Winningham | Georgia | Georgia Flood |
| 1995 | Jennifer Lopez | My Family | Young Maria |
| 1995 | Vanessa Redgrave | Little Odessa | Irina Shapira |
| 1995 | Chloë Sevigny | Kids | Jennie |
| 1995 | Celia Weston | Dead Man Walking | Mary Beth Percy |
| 1996 | Elizabeth Peña | Lone Star | Pilar Cruz |
| 1996 | Mary Kay Place | Manny & Lo | Elaine |
| 1996 | Queen Latifah | Set It Off | Cleopatra 'Cleo' Sims |
| 1996 | Lili Taylor | Girls Town | Patti Lucci |
| 1996 | Lily Tomlin | Flirting with Disaster | Mary Schlichting |
| 1997 | Debbi Morgan | Eve's Bayou | Mozelle Batiste Delacroix |
| 1997 | Farrah Fawcett | The Apostle | Jessie Dewey |
| 1997 | Amy Madigan | Loved | Brett Amerson |
| 1997 | Miranda Richardson | The Apostle | Toosie |
| 1997 | Patricia Richardson | Ulee's Gold | Connie Hope |
| 1998 | Lynn Redgrave | Gods and Monsters | Hanna |
| 1998 | Stockard Channing | The Baby Dance | Rachel Luckman |
| 1998 | Patricia Clarkson | High Art | Greta |
| 1998 | Lisa Kudrow | The Opposite of Sex | Lucia DeLury |
| 1998 | Joely Richardson | Under Heaven | Eleanor Dunston |
| 1999 | Chloë Sevigny | Boys Don't Cry | Lana Tisdel |
| 1999 | Barbara Barrie | Judy Berlin | Sue Berlin |
| 1999 | Vanessa Martinez | Limbo | Noelle De Angelo |
| 1999 | Sarah Polley | Go | Ronna Martin |
| 1999 | Jean Smart | Guinevere | Deborah Sloane |

### 2000s

| Year | Actress | Film | Role |
| 2000 | Zhang Ziyi | Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon | Jen Yu |
| 2000 | Pat Carroll | Songcatcher | Viney Butler |
| 2000 | Jennifer Connelly | Requiem for a Dream | Marion Silver |
| 2000 | Marcia Gay Harden | Pollock | Lee Krasner |
| 2000 | Lupe Ontiveros | Chuck & Buck | Beverly Franco |
| 2001 | Carrie-Anne Moss | Memento | Natalie |
| 2001 | Davenia McFadden | Stranger Inside | Brownie |
| 2001 | Summer Phoenix | The Believer | Carla Moebius |
| 2001 | Uma Thurman | Tape | Amy Randall |
| 2001 | Tamara Tunie | The Caveman's Valentine | Sheila Ledbetter |
| 2002 | Emily Mortimer | Lovely & Amazing | Elizabeth Marks |
| 2002 | Viola Davis | Antwone Fisher | Eva May |
| 2002 | Jacqueline Kim | Charlotte Sometimes | Darcy / Charlotte |
| 2002 | Juliette Lewis | Hysterical Blindness | Beth Tocyznski |
| 2002 | Julianne Nicholson | Tully | Ella Smalley |
| 2003 | Shohreh Aghdashloo | House of Sand and Fog | Nadi Behrani |
| 2003 | Sarah Bolger | In America | Christy Sullivan |
| 2003 | Patricia Clarkson | Pieces of April | Joy Burns |
| 2003 | Hope Davis | The Secret Lives of Dentists | Dana Hurst |
| 2003 | Frances McDormand | Laurel Canyon | Jane |
| 2004 | Virginia Madsen | Sideways | Maya Randall |
| 2004 | Cate Blanchett | Coffee and Cigarettes | Cate / Shelly |
| 2004 | Loretta Devine | Woman Thou Art Loosed | Cassey Jordan |
| 2004 | Robin Simmons | Robbing Peter | Shawna |
| 2004 | Yenny Paola Vega | Maria Full of Grace | Blanca |
| 2005 | Amy Adams | Junebug | Ashley Johnsten |
| 2005 | Maggie Gyllenhaal | Happy Endings | Jude |
| 2005 | Allison Janney | Our Very Own | Joan Whitfield |
| 2005 | Michelle Williams | Brokeback Mountain | Alma Beers Del Mar |
| 2005 | Robin Wright | Nine Lives | Diana |
| 2006 | Frances McDormand | Friends with Money | Jane |
| 2006 | Melonie Diaz | A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints | Young Laurie |
| 2006 | Marcia Gay Harden | American Gun | Janet Huttenson |
| 2006 | Mary Beth Hurt | The Dead Girl | Ruth |
| 2006 | Amber Tamblyn | Stephanie Daley | Stephanie Daley |
| 2007 | Cate Blanchett | I'm Not There | Jude Quinn |
| 2007 | Anna Kendrick | Rocket Science | Ginny Ryerson |
| 2007 | Jennifer Jason Leigh | Margot at the Wedding | Pauline |
| 2007 | Tamara Podemski | Four Sheets to the Wind | Miri Smallhill |
| 2007 | Marisa Tomei | Before the Devil Knows You're Dead | Gina Hanson |
| 2008 | Penélope Cruz | Vicky Cristina Barcelona | María Elena |
| 2008 | Rosemarie DeWitt | Rachel Getting Married | Rachel Buchman |
| 2008 | Rosie Perez | The Take | Marina De La Pena |
| 2008 | Misty Upham | Frozen River | Lila Littlewolf |
| 2008 | Debra Winger | Rachel Getting Married | Abby Buchman |
| 2009 | Mo'Nique | Precious | Mary Lee Johnston |
| 2009 | Dina Korzun | Cold Souls | Nina |
| 2009 | Samantha Morton | The Messenger | Olivia Pitterson |
| 2009 | Natalie Press | Fifty Dead Men Walking | Lara |
| 2009 | Mia Wasikowska | That Evening Sun | Pamela Choat |

### 2010s

| Year | Actress | Film | Role |
| 2010 | Dale Dickey | Winter's Bone | Merab |
| 2010 | Ashley Bell | The Last Exorcism | Nell Sweetzer |
| 2010 | Allison Janney | Life During Wartime | Trish |
| 2010 | Daphne Rubin-Vega | Jack Goes Boating | Lucy |
| 2010 | Naomi Watts | Mother and Child | Elizabeth |
| 2011 | Shailene Woodley | The Descendants | Alexandra "Alex" King |
| 2011 | Jessica Chastain | Take Shelter | Samantha LaForche |
| 2011 | Anjelica Huston | 50/50 | Diane Lerner |
| 2011 | Janet McTeer | Albert Nobbs | Hubert Page |
| 2011 | Harmony Santana | Gun Hill Road | Michael |
| 2012 | Helen Hunt | The Sessions | Cheryl Cohen-Greene |
| 2012 | Rosemarie DeWitt | Your Sister's Sister | Hannah |
| 2012 | Ann Dowd | Compliance | Sandra |
| 2012 | Brit Marling | Sound of My Voice | Maggie |
| 2012 | Lorraine Toussaint | Middle of Nowhere | Ruth |
| 2013 | Lupita Nyong'o | 12 Years a Slave | Patsey |
| 2013 | Melonie Diaz | Fruitvale Station | Sophina |
| 2013 | Sally Hawkins | Blue Jasmine | Ginger |
| 2013 | Yolonda Ross | Go for Sisters | Fontayne |
| 2013 | June Squibb | Nebraska | Kate Grant |
| 2014 | Patricia Arquette | Boyhood | Olivia Evans |
| 2014 | Jessica Chastain | A Most Violent Year | Anna Morales |
| 2014 | Carmen Ejogo | Selma | Coretta Scott King |
| 2014 | Emma Stone | Birdman | Sam Thomson |
| 2014 | Andrea Suarez Paz | Stand Clear of the Closing Doors | Mariana |
| 2015 | Mya Taylor | Tangerine | Alexandra |
| 2015 | Robin Bartlett | H. | Helen |
| 2015 | Marin Ireland | Glass Chin | Ellen Doyle |
| 2015 | Jennifer Jason Leigh | Anomalisa | Lisa Hesselman |
| 2015 | Cynthia Nixon | James White | Gail White |
| 2016 | Molly Shannon | Other People | Joanne Mulcahey |
| 2016 | Edwina Findley | Free in Deed | Melva Neddy |
| 2016 | Paulina García | Little Men | Leonor Calvelli |
| 2016 | Lily Gladstone | Certain Women | Jamie |
| 2016 | Riley Keough | American Honey | Krystal |
| 2017 | Allison Janney | I, Tonya | LaVona Golden |
| 2017 | Holly Hunter | The Big Sick | Beth Gardner |
| 2017 | Laurie Metcalf | Lady Bird | Marion McPherson |
| 2017 | Lois Smith | Marjorie Prime | Marjorie Lancaster |
| 2017 | Taliah Lennice Webster | Good Time | Crystal |
| 2018 | Regina King | If Beale Street Could Talk | Sharon Rivers |
| 2018 | Kayli Carter | Private Life | Sadie Barrett |
| 2018 | Tyne Daly | A Bread Factory | Dorothea |
| 2018 | Thomasin McKenzie | Leave No Trace | Tom |
| 2018 | J. Smith-Cameron | Nancy | Ellen Lynch |
| 2019 | Zhao Shuzhen | The Farewell | Nai Nai |
| 2019 | Jennifer Lopez | Hustlers | Ramona Vega |
| 2019 | Taylor Russell | Waves | Emily Williams |
| 2019 | Lauren “Lolo” Spencer | Give Me Liberty | Tracy |
| 2019 | Octavia Spencer | Luce | Harriet Wilson |

### 2020s

| Year | Actress | Film | Role |
| 2020 | Youn Yuh-jung | Minari | Soon-ja |
| 2020 | Alexis Chikaeze | Miss Juneteenth | Kai Jones |
| 2020 | Han Ye-ri | Minari | Monica Yi |
| 2020 | Valerie Mahaffey | French Exit | Mme. Reynard |
| 2020 | Talia Ryder | Never Rarely Sometimes Always | Skylar |
| 2021 | Ruth Negga | Passing | Clare Kendry |
| 2021 | Jessie Buckley | The Lost Daughter | Young Leda Caruso |
| 2021 | Amy Forsyth | The Novice | Jamie Brill |
| 2021 | Revika Anne Reustle | Pleasure | Joy |
| 2021 | Suzanna Son | Red Rocket | Strawberry |