18th Independent Spirit Awards

18th Independent Spirit Awards
18th Independent Spirit Awards
Date	March 22, 2003
Site	Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Hosted by	John Waters
Highlights
Best Film	Far from Heaven
Most awards	Far from Heaven (5)
Most nominations	Lovely & Amazing (6)
	← 17th; Independent Spirit Awards; 19th →;

The 18th Independent Spirit Awards, honoring the best in independent filmmaking for 2002, were presented on March 22, 2003. It was hosted by John Waters. The nominations were announced on December 12, 2002.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]

Additionally, this ceremony is notable for when presenter Brittany Murphy seemingly bungled the reading of the winner for Best Debut Performance.^[6] In reference to her acting ability, legendary film critic Roger Ebert wrote:

As for Brittany Murphy, for me, it goes back to the 2003 Independent Spirit Awards [where] Murphy was assigned to present one of the awards. Her task was to read the names of the five nominees, open an envelope, and reveal the name of the winner. This she turned into an opportunity for screwball improvisational comedy, by pretending she could not follow this sequence, not even after the audience shouted instructions and the stage manager came to whisper in her ear not once but twice. There were those in the audience who were dumbfounded by her stupidity. I was dumbfounded by her brilliance.^[7]

Suspiciously, video footage of the entire ceremony is absent from online resources despite prior and subsequent ceremonies being made available in their entirety officially on Film Independent's YouTube account. However, footage of Murphy's alleged act was used for the 2021 HBO Max documentary titled What Happened, Brittany Murphy?.^[8]

Winners and nominees

Dennis Quaid, Best Supporting Male winner

Best Feature	Best Director
Far from Heaven The Good Girl Lovely & Amazing Secretary Tully	Todd Haynes – Far from Heaven Joe Carnahan – Narc Nicole Holofcener – Lovely & Amazing Bernard Rose – Ivans Xtc Gus Van Sant – Gerry
Best Male Lead	Best Female Lead
Derek Luke – Antwone Fisher Graham Greene – Skins Danny Huston – Ivans Xtc Jeremy Renner – Dahmer Campbell Scott – Roger Dodger	Julianne Moore – Far from Heaven Jennifer Aniston – The Good Girl Maggie Gyllenhaal – Secretary Catherine Keener – Lovely & Amazing Parker Posey – Personal Velocity: Three Portraits
Best Supporting Male	Best Supporting Female
Dennis Quaid – Far from Heaven Alan Arkin – Thirteen Conversations About One Thing Ray Liotta – Narc John C. Reilly – The Good Girl Peter Weller – Ivans Xtc	Emily Mortimer – Lovely & Amazing Viola Davis – Antwone Fisher Jacqueline Kim – Charlotte Sometimes Juliette Lewis – Hysterical Blindness Julianne Nicholson – Tully
Best Screenplay	Best First Screenplay
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	Secretary – Erin Cressida Wilson Hysterical Blindness – Laura Cahill Igby Goes Down – Burr Steers Interview with the Assassin – Neil Burger Kissing Jessica Stein – Heather Juergensen and Jennifer Westfeldt
Best First Feature	Best Debut Performance
The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys Interview with the Assassin Manito Paid in Full Roger Dodger	Nia Vardalos – My Big Fat Greek Wedding Bob Burrus – Tully America Ferrera – Real Women Have Curves Raven Goodwin – Lovely & Amazing Artel Great – Dahmer
Best Cinematography	Best Documentary Feature
Far from Heaven – Edward Lachman Gerry – Harris Savides Interview with the Assassin – Richard Rutkowski Narc – Alex Nepomniaschy Personal Velocity: Three Portraits – Ellen Kuras	Bowling for Columbine The Cockettes Devil's Playground How to Draw a Bunny Scratch
Best Foreign Film
Y tu mamá también • Mexico Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner • Canada Bloody Sunday • Ireland / UK The Piano Teacher • France Time Out • France

Special awards

John Cassavetes Award

Personal Velocity: Three Portraits

Truer Than Fiction Award

Jennifer Dworkin – Love & Diane

Jeffrey Blitz – Spellbound
Eugene Jarecki – The Trials of Henry Kissinger
Mark Moskowitz – Stone Reader

Producers Award

Effie Brown – Real Women Have Curves and Stranger Inside

Allen Bain and Jesse Scolaro – Cry Funny Happy and Manito
Eden Wurmfeld – Fanci's Persuasion and Kissing Jessica Stein

Someone to Watch Award

Przemysław Reut – Paradox Lake

Eric Eason – Manito
Eitan Gorlin – The Holy Land

Films with multiple wins and nominations

Films that received multiple nominations

Nominations	Film
6	Lovely and Amazing
5	Far from Heaven
4	The Good Girl
	Ivans Xtc
	Tully
3	Dahmer
	Interview with the Assassin
	Manito
	Narc
	Personal Velocity: Three Portraits
	Roger Dodger
	Secretary
2	Antwone Fisher
	Charlotte Sometimes
	Gerry
	Hysterical Blindness
	Kissing Jessica Stein
	Real Women Have Curves
	Thirteen Conversations About One Thing

Films that won multiple awards

Nominations	Film
5	Far from Heaven

References

^ Harris, Dana (March 22, 2003). "'Heaven' tops Indie Spirit Awards". Variety. Retrieved August 22, 2012.
^ Hernandez, Eugene; Brooks, Brian (March 22, 2003). ""Far from Heaven" Sweeps 2003 Independent Spirit Awards". IndieWire. Retrieved August 22, 2012.
^ Hiatt, Brian (March 22, 2003). "Anti-war speeches dominate pre-Oscar awards". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved August 22, 2012.
^ Vancheri, Barbara (March 22, 2003). "'Far from Heaven' sweeps Independent Spirit Awards". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Archived from the original on January 31, 2013. Retrieved August 22, 2012.
^ "Independent Spirit Awards nominees announced". Los Angeles Times. December 12, 2002. Archived from the original on January 27, 2013. Retrieved August 22, 2012.
^ Keane, Sean (November 14, 2018). "Indie Indeed: The most memorable moments in the history of the Independent Spirit Awards". Yardbarker. Retrieved September 6, 2022.
^ Ebert, Roger (February 5, 2013). Roger Ebert's Movie Yearbook 2007. Andrews McMeel Publishing. p. 410. ISBN 978-0-7407-9219-9. Retrieved February 16, 2014.
^ "Brittany Murphy at the 2003 Independent Spirit Awards". April 10, 2022. Retrieved September 18, 2022 – via YouTube.

External links

2002 Spirit Awards at IMDb

[1] Harris, Dana (March 22, 2003). "'Heaven' tops Indie Spirit Awards". Variety. Retrieved August 22, 2012.

[2] Hernandez, Eugene; Brooks, Brian (March 22, 2003). ""Far from Heaven" Sweeps 2003 Independent Spirit Awards". IndieWire. Retrieved August 22, 2012.

[3] Hiatt, Brian (March 22, 2003). "Anti-war speeches dominate pre-Oscar awards". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved August 22, 2012.

[4] Vancheri, Barbara (March 22, 2003). "'Far from Heaven' sweeps Independent Spirit Awards". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Archived from the original on January 31, 2013. Retrieved August 22, 2012.

[5] "Independent Spirit Awards nominees announced". Los Angeles Times. December 12, 2002. Archived from the original on January 27, 2013. Retrieved August 22, 2012.

[6] Keane, Sean (November 14, 2018). "Indie Indeed: The most memorable moments in the history of the Independent Spirit Awards". Yardbarker. Retrieved September 6, 2022.

[7] Ebert, Roger (February 5, 2013). Roger Ebert's Movie Yearbook 2007. Andrews McMeel Publishing. p. 410. ISBN 978-0-7407-9219-9. Retrieved February 16, 2014.

[8] "Brittany Murphy at the 2003 Independent Spirit Awards". April 10, 2022. Retrieved September 18, 2022 – via YouTube.

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v t e Independent Spirit Awards
Current categories	Best Film Best Director Best Lead Performance Best Supporting Performance Best Breakthrough Performance Best Cinematography Best Editing Best Documentary Feature Best First Feature Best International Film Best Screenplay Best First Screenplay Best New Scripted Series Best Lead Performance in a New Scripted Series Best Supporting Performance in a New Scripted Series John Cassavetes Award Robert Altman Award
Retired categories	Best Male Lead Best Female Lead Best Supporting Male Best Supporting Female Best Male Performance in a New Scripted Series Best Female Performance in a New Scripted Series
Ceremonies	1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 (years are of film release; ceremonies are the following year)