# Independent Spirit Award for Best Screenplay

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.

## Winners and nominees
### 1980s

| Year | Film | Recipient(s) |
| 1985 | The Trip to Bountiful | Horton Foote |
| 1985 | After Hours | Joseph Minion |
| 1985 | Blood Simple | Joel Coen and Ethan Coen |
| 1985 | Smooth Talk | Tom Cole |
| 1986 | Platoon | Oliver Stone |
| 1986 | Blue Velvet | David Lynch |
| 1986 | A Great Wall | Peter Wang and Shirley Sun |
| 1986 | Salvador | Oliver Stone and Richard Boyle |
| 1986 | Stand by Me | Raynold Gideon and Bruce A. Evans |
| 1987 | River's Edge | Neal Jimenez |
| 1987 | Anna | Agnieszka Holland |
| 1987 | The Dead | Tony Huston |
| 1987 | Matewan | John Sayles |
| 1987 | Swimming to Cambodia | Spalding Gray |
| 1988 | Stand and Deliver | Ramón Menéndez and Tom Musca |
| 1988 | Five Corners | John Patrick Shanley |
| 1988 | Hairspray | John Waters |
| 1988 | The Moderns | Alan Rudolph and Jon Bradshaw |
| 1988 | Patti Rocks | John Jenkins, Karen Landry, David Burton Morris, and Chris Mulkey |
| 1989 | Drugstore Cowboy | Gus Van Sant and Daniel Yost |
| 1989 | 84 Charlie Mopic | Patrick Sheane Duncan |
| 1989 | Heathers | Daniel Waters |
| 1989 | Miracle Mile | Steve De Jarnatt |
| 1989 | Mystery Train | Jim Jarmusch |

### 1990s

| Year | Film | Recipient(s) |
| 1990 | To Sleep with Anger | Charles Burnett |
| 1990 | Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer | John McNaughton and Richard Fire |
| 1990 | Metropolitan | Whit Stillman |
| 1990 | The Plot Against Harry | Michael Roemer |
| 1990 | Pump Up the Volume | Allan Moyle |
| 1991 | My Own Private Idaho | Gus Van Sant |
| 1991 | Hangin' with the Homeboys | Joseph Vásquez |
| 1991 | Kafka | Lem Dobbs |
| 1991 | Mindwalk | Floyd Byars and Fritjof Capra |
| 1991 | The Rapture | Michael Tolkin |
| 1992 | The Waterdance | Neal Jimenez |
| 1992 | Gas Food Lodging | Allison Anders |
| 1992 | Light Sleeper | Paul Schrader |
| 1992 | A Midnight Clear | Keith Gordon |
| 1992 | One False Move | Billy Bob Thornton and Tom Epperson |
| 1993 | Short Cuts | Robert Altman and Frank Barhydt |
| 1993 | Combination Platter | Edwin Baker and Tony Chan |
| 1993 | Household Saints | Nancy Savoca and Richard Guay |
| 1993 | Ruby in Paradise | Victor Nuñez |
| 1993 | The Wedding Banquet | Ang Lee, Neil Peng, and James Schamus |
| 1994 | Pulp Fiction | Quentin Tarantino and Roger Avary |
| 1994 | Bullets Over Broadway | Woody Allen and Douglas McGrath |
| 1994 | Eat Drink Man Woman | Hui-Ling Wang, James Schamus, and Ang Lee |
| 1994 | Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle | Alan Rudolph and Randy Sue Coburn |
| 1994 | Red Rock West | John Dahl and Rick Dahl |
| 1995 | The Usual Suspects | Christopher McQuarrie |
| 1995 | Leaving Las Vegas | Mike Figgis |
| 1995 | Living in Oblivion | Tom DiCillo |
| 1995 | Safe | Todd Haynes |
| 1995 | The Secret of Roan Inish | John Sayles |
| 1996 | Fargo | Joel Coen and Ethan Coen |
| 1996 | Dead Man | Jim Jarmusch |
| 1996 | Flirting with Disaster | David O. Russell |
| 1996 | The Funeral | Nicholas St. John |
| 1996 | Lone Star | John Sayles |
| 1997 | Chasing Amy | Kevin Smith |
| 1997 | The Apostle | Robert Duvall |
| 1997 | Touch | Paul Schrader |
| 1997 | Ulee's Gold | Victor Nuñez |
| 1997 | Waiting for Guffman | Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy |
| 1998 | The Opposite of Sex | Don Roos |
| 1998 | Affliction | Paul Schrader |
| 1998 | Blind Faith | Frank Military |
| 1998 | Gods and Monsters | Bill Condon |
| 1998 | The Spanish Prisoner | David Mamet |
| 1999 | Election | Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor |
| 1999 | Dogma | Kevin Smith |
| 1999 | Guinevere | Audrey Wells |
| 1999 | The Limey | Lem Dobbs |
| 1999 | SLC Punk! | James Merendino |

### 2000s

| Year | Film | Recipient(s) |
| 2000 | You Can Count on Me | Kenneth Lonergan |
| 2000 | Chuck & Buck | Mike White |
| 2000 | Love & Sex | Valerie Breiman |
| 2000 | Two Family House | Raymond De Felitta |
| 2000 | Waking the Dead | Robert Dillon |
| 2001 | Memento | Christopher Nolan |
| 2001 | The Believer | Henry Bean |
| 2001 | In the Bedroom | Robert Festinger and Todd Field |
| 2001 | Monster's Ball | Milo Addica and Will Rokos |
| 2001 | Waking Life | Richard Linklater |
| 2002 | The Good Girl | Mike White |
| 2002 | Lovely & Amazing | Nicole Holofcener |
| 2002 | Roger Dodger | Dylan Kidd |
| 2002 | Thirteen Conversations About One Thing | Jill Sprecher and Karen Sprecher |
| 2002 | Tully | Hilary Birmingham and Matt Drake |
| 2003 | Lost in Translation | Sofia Coppola |
| 2003 | American Splendor | Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini |
| 2003 | A Mighty Wind | Christopher Guest and Eugene Levy (...and the cast) |
| 2003 | Pieces of April | Peter Hedges |
| 2003 | Shattered Glass | Billy Ray |
| 2004 | Sideways | Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor |
| 2004 | Baadasssss! | Mario Van Peebles and Dennis Haggerty |
| 2004 | Before Sunset | Richard Linklater, Ethan Hawke, and Julie Delpy |
| 2004 | The Door in the Floor | Tod Williams |
| 2004 | Kinsey | Bill Condon |
| 2005 | Capote | Dan Futterman |
| 2005 | Nine Lives | Rodrigo García |
| 2005 | The Squid and the Whale | Noah Baumbach |
| 2005 | The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada | Guillermo Arriaga |
| 2005 | The War Within | Ayad Akhtar, Joseph Castelo, and Tom Glynn |
| 2006 | Thank You for Smoking | Jason Reitman |
| 2006 | Friends with Money | Nicole Holofcener |
| 2006 | The Illusionist | Neil Burger |
| 2006 | The Painted Veil | Ron Nyswaner |
| 2006 | Sorry, Haters | Jeff Stanzler |
| 2007 | The Savages | Tamara Jenkins |
| 2007 | The Diving Bell and the Butterfly | Ronald Harwood |
| 2007 | Starting Out in the Evening | Fred Parnes and Andrew Wagner |
| 2007 | Waitress | Adrienne Shelly |
| 2007 | Year of the Dog | Mike White |
| 2008 | Vicky Cristina Barcelona | Woody Allen |
| 2008 | Sangre de Mi Sangre | Christopher Zalla |
| 2008 | Savage Grace | Howard A. Rodman |
| 2008 | Sugar | Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck |
| 2008 | Synecdoche, New York | Charlie Kaufman |
| 2009 | (500) Days of Summer | Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber |
| 2009 | Adventureland | Greg Mottola |
| 2009 | The Last Station | Michael Hoffman |
| 2009 | The Messenger | Alessandro Camon and Oren Moverman |
| 2009 | The Vicious Kind | Lee Toland Krieger |

### 2010s

| Year | Film | Recipient(s) |
| 2010 | The Kids Are All Right | Stuart Blumberg and Lisa Cholodenko |
| 2010 | Life During Wartime | Todd Solondz |
| 2010 | Please Give | Nicole Holofcener |
| 2010 | Rabbit Hole | David Lindsay-Abaire |
| 2010 | Winter's Bone | Debra Granik and Anne Rosellini |
| 2011 | The Descendants | Alexander Payne, Nat Faxon, and Jim Rash |
| 2011 | The Artist | Michel Hazanavicius |
| 2011 | Beginners | Mike Mills |
| 2011 | Footnote | Joseph Cedar |
| 2011 | Win Win | Tom McCarthy |
| 2012 | Silver Linings Playbook | David O. Russell |
| 2012 | Keep the Lights On | Ira Sachs and Mauricio Zacharias |
| 2012 | Moonrise Kingdom | Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola |
| 2012 | Ruby Sparks | Zoe Kazan |
| 2012 | Seven Psychopaths | Martin McDonagh |
| 2013 | 12 Years a Slave | John Ridley |
| 2013 | Before Midnight | Richard Linklater, Ethan Hawke, and Julie Delpy |
| 2013 | Blue Jasmine | Woody Allen |
| 2013 | Enough Said | Nicole Holofcener |
| 2013 | The Spectacular Now | Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber |
| 2014 | Nightcrawler | Dan Gilroy |
| 2014 | Big Eyes | Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski |
| 2014 | Love Is Strange | Ira Sachs and Mauricio Zacharias |
| 2014 | A Most Violent Year | J. C. Chandor |
| 2014 | Only Lovers Left Alive | Jim Jarmusch |
| 2015 | Spotlight | Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer |
| 2015 | Anomalisa | Charlie Kaufman |
| 2015 | Bone Tomahawk | S. Craig Zahler |
| 2015 | Carol | Phyllis Nagy |
| 2015 | The End of the Tour | Donald Margulies |
| 2016 | Moonlight | Barry Jenkins and Tarell Alvin McCraney |
| 2016 | 20th Century Women | Mike Mills |
| 2016 | Hell or High Water | Taylor Sheridan |
| 2016 | Little Men | Ira Sachs and Mauricio Zacharias |
| 2016 | Manchester by the Sea | Kenneth Lonergan |
| 2017 | Lady Bird | Greta Gerwig |
| 2017 | Beatriz at Dinner | Mike White |
| 2017 | Get Out | Jordan Peele |
| 2017 | The Lovers | Azazel Jacobs |
| 2017 | Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri | Martin McDonagh |
| 2018 | Can You Ever Forgive Me? | Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty |
| 2018 | Colette | Richard Glatzer, Rebecca Lenkiewicz, and Wash Westmoreland |
| 2018 | First Reformed | Paul Schrader |
| 2018 | Private Life | Tamara Jenkins |
| 2018 | Sorry to Bother You | Boots Riley |
| 2019 | Marriage Story | Noah Baumbach |
| 2019 | Clemency | Chinonye Chukwu |
| 2019 | High Flying Bird | Tarell Alvin McCraney |
| 2019 | To Dust | Jason Begue and Shawn Snyder |
| 2019 | Uncut Gems | Ronald Bronstein, Josh Safdie and Benny Safdie |

### 2020s

| Year | Film | Recipient(s) |
| 2020 | Promising Young Woman | Emerald Fennell |
| 2020 | Bad Education | Mike Makowsky |
| 2020 | The Half of It | Alice Wu |
| 2020 | Minari | Lee Isaac Chung |
| 2020 | Never Rarely Sometimes Always | Eliza Hittman |
| 2021 | The Lost Daughter | Maggie Gyllenhaal |
| 2021 | C'mon C'mon | Mike Mills |
| 2021 | Swan Song | Todd Stephens |
| 2021 | Together Together | Nikole Beckwith |
| 2021 | Zola | Janicza Bravo and Jeremy O. Harris |
| 2022 | Everything Everywhere All at Once | Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert |
| 2022 | After Yang | Kogonada |
| 2022 | Catherine Called Birdy | Lena Dunham |
| 2022 | Tár | Todd Field |
| 2022 | Women Talking | Sarah Polley |
| 2023 | American Fiction | Cord Jefferson |
| 2023 | Birth/Rebirth | Laura Moss and Brendan J. O'Brien |
| 2023 | Bottoms | Emma Seligman and Rachel Sennott |
| 2023 | The Holdovers | David Hemingson |
| 2023 | Past Lives | Celine Song |
| 2024 | A Real Pain | Jesse Eisenberg |
| 2024 | A Different Man | Aaron Schimberg |
| 2024 | Heretic | Scott Beck and Bryan Woods |
| 2024 | I Saw the TV Glow | Jane Schoenbrun |
| 2024 | My Old Ass | Megan Park |