The Independent Spirit Award for Best International Film is an award presented annually at the Independent Spirit Awards to recognize the best feature films produced outside United States.
History It was first presented in 1986, with Brazilian-American drama Kiss of the Spider Woman being the first recipient of the award.
In 2025, Flow marked the first time an animated film to win an Independent Spirit Award for any category.
Winners and nominees 1980s YearFilmOriginal TitleDirectorCountry1986Kiss of the Spider WomanO Beijo da Mulher AranhaHéctor Babenco , Dreamchild Gavin Millar The Hit Stephen Frears Ran 乱 Akira Kurosawa 1987A Room with a ViewJames Ivory Men… Männer… Doris Dörrie 28 Up Michael Apted Mona Lisa Neil Jordan My Beautiful Laundrette Stephen Frears1988My Life as a DogMitt liv som hundLasse Hallström Au revoir les enfants Louis Malle , Hope and Glory John Boorman Prick Up Your Ears Stephen Frears Tampopo タンポポ Juzo Itami 1989Wings of DesireDer Himmel über BerlinWim Wenders The Kitchen Toto Harry Hook Bagdad Café Percy Adlon A World Apart Chris Menges , Yeelen Souleymane Cissé
1990s YearFilmOriginal TitleDirectorCountry1990My Left FootJim Sheridan , Hanussen István Szabó Distant Voices, Still Lives Terence Davies High Hopes Mike Leigh Rouge 胭脂扣 Stanley Kwan 1991SweetieJane Campion Black Rain 黒い雨 Shohei Imamura A City of Sadness 悲情城市 Hou Hsiao-hsien The Cook, the Thief, His Wife & Her Lover Peter Greenaway , Freeze Die Come to Life Замри, умри, воскресни Vitali Kanevsky 1992An Angel at My Table Jane Campion , , The Double Life of Véronique La double vie de Véronique Krzysztof Kieślowski , Life is Sweet Mike Leigh Requiem for Dominic Requiem für Dominik Robert Dornhelm ,, Taxi Blues Такси-блюз Pavel Lungin 1993The Crying GameNeil Jordan Close to Eden Урга Nikita Mikhalkov Danzon Maria Novaro , Howards End James Ivory Raise the Red Lantern 大红灯笼高高挂 Zhang Yimou , , 1994The PianoJane Campion Naked Mike Leigh Orlando Sally PotterLike Water for Chocolate Como agua para chocolate Alfonso Arau The Story of Qiu Ju 秋菊打官司 Zhang Yimou , 1995Three Colors: RedTrois couleurs: RougeKrzysztof Kieślowski , The Blue Kite 蓝风筝 Tian Zhuangzhuang , Ladybird, Ladybird Ken Loach The Boys of St. Vincent John N. Smith Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould François Girard 1996Before the RainPred doždotMilcho Manchevski , The City of Lost Children La cité des enfants perdus Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet Exotica Atom Egoyan I Am Cuba (1964) Soy Cuba Mikhail Kalatozov , Through the Olive Trees زیر درختان زیتون Abbas Kiarostami 1997Secrets & LiesMike Leigh Breaking the Waves Lars von Trier Chungking Express 重庆森林 Wong Kar-wai Lamerica Gianni Amelio Trainspotting Danny Boyle 1998The Sweet HereafterAtom Egoyan Happy Together 春光乍泄 Wong Kar-wai Mouth to Mouth Boca a boca Manuel Gómez Pereira Nenette and Boni Nénette et Boni Claire Denis Underground Podzemlje Emir Kusturica , , 1999The CelebrationFestenThomas Vinterberg Central Station Central do Brasil Walter Salles The Eel うなぎ Shohei Imamura The General John Boorman , Fireworks はなび Takeshi Kitano
2000s YearFilmOriginal TitleDirectorCountry2000Run Lola RunLola renntTom Tykwer All About My Mother Todo sobre mi madre Pedro Almodóvar My Son the Fanatic Udayan Prasad Topsy-Turvy Mike Leigh Rosetta Dardenne brothers , 2001Dancer in the DarkDanser i mørketLars von Trier In the Mood for Love 花样年华 Wong Kar-wai , Malli Santosh Sivan A Time for Drunken Horses زمانی برای مستی اسبها Bahman Ghobadi The War Zone Tim Roth 2002AmélieLe fabuleux destin d'Amélie PoulainJean-Pierre Jeunet Amores perros Alejandro González Iñárritu Lumumba Raoul Peck , , , Sexy Beast Jonathan Glazer , Together Tillsammans Lukas Moodysson , , 2003 Y Tu Mamá TambiénAlfonso Cuarón Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner Atanarjuat Zacharias Kunuk Time Out L'emploi du temps Laurent Cantet The Piano Teacher La pianiste Michael Haneke Bloody Sunday Paul Greengrass , 2004 Whale RiderNiki Caro , City of God Cidade de Deus Fernando Meirelles Lilya 4-Ever Lilja 4-ever Lukas Moodysson The Magdalene Sisters Peter Mullan , The Triplets of Belleville Les triplettes de Belleville Sylvain Chomet , , 2005 The Sea InsideMar AdentroAlejandro Amenabar Oasis 오아시스 Lee Chang-dong Bad Education La mala educación Pedro Almodóvar Red Lights Feux rouges Cédric Kahn Yesterday Darrell Roodt 2006 Paradise NowHany Abu-Assad , , , The Death of Mr. Lazarescu Moartea domnului Lazarescu Cristi Puiu Duck Season Temporada de patos Fernando Eimbcke Head-On Gegen die Wand Fatih Akın , Tony Takitani トニー滝谷 Jun Ichikawa 2007 The Lives of OthersDas Leben der AnderenFlorian Henckel von Donnersmarck 12:08 East of Bucharest A fost sau n-a fost? Corneliu Porumboiu The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros Ang pagdadalaga ni Maximo Oliveros Auraeus Solito Chronicle of an Escape Crónica de una fuga Israel Adrián Caetano Days of Glory Indigènes Rachid Bouchareb , , , , 2008 OnceJohn Carney 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days 4 luni, 3 săptămâni şi 2 zile Cristian Mungiu The Band's Visit ביקור התזמורת Eran Kolirin , , Persepolis Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud Lady Chatterley Pascale Ferran , 2009 The ClassEntre les mursLaurent Cantet Gomorrah Gomorra Matteo Garrone The Secret of the Grain La graine et le mulet Abdellatif Kechiche Hunger Steve McQueen , Silent Light Stellet licht Carlos Reygadas , , ,
2010s YearFilmOriginal TitleDirectorCountry2010 An EducationLone Scherfig Everlasting Moments Maria Larssons eviga ögonblick Jan Troell The Maid La nana Sebastián Silva Mother 마더 Bong Joon-ho A Prophet Un prophète Jacques Audiard 2011The King's SpeechTom Hooper , Kisses Lance Daly Mademoiselle Chambon Stéphane Brizé Of Gods and Men Des hommes et des dieux Xavier Beauvois ,Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives ลุงบุญมีระลึกชาติ Apichatpong Weerasethakul 2012A Separationجدایی نادر از سیمینAsghar Farhadi The Kid with a Bike Le gamin au vélo Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne Shame Steve McQueen Tyrannosaur Paddy Considine Melancholia Lars von Trier 2013AmourMichael Haneke ,, Once Upon a Time in Anatolia Bir zamanlar Anadolu'da Nuri Bilge Ceylan , Rust and Bone De rouille et d'os Jacques Audiard , War Witch Rebelle Kim Nguyen Sister L'enfant d'en haut Ursula Meier , 2014Blue Is the Warmest ColourLa vie d'AdèleAbdellatif Kechiche Gloria Sebastian Lelio The Great Beauty La grande bellezza Paolo Sorrentino The Hunt Jagten Thomas Vinterberg A Touch of Sin 天注定 Jia Zhangke 2015IdaPaweł Pawlikowski Force Majeure Turist Ruben Östlund Leviathan Левиафан Andrey Zvyagintsev Mommy Xavier Dolan Norte, the End of History Norte, hangganan ng kasaysayan Lav Diaz Under the Skin Jonathan Glazer 2016Son of SaulSaul FiaLászló Nemes Embrace of the Serpent El abrazo de la serpiente Ciro Guerra Girlhood Bande de fillies Céline Sciamma A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence En duva satt på en gren och funderade på tillvaron Roy Andersson Mustang Deniz Gamze Ergüven , 2017Toni ErdmannMaren Ade , Aquarius Kleber Mendonça Filho Chevalier Athina Rachel Tsangari My Golden Days Trois souvenirs de ma jeunesse Arnaud Desplechin Under the Shadow زیر سایه Babak Anvari , 2018 A Fantastic Woman Una mujer fantásticaSebastián Lelio 120 Beats Per Minute 120 battements par minute Robin Campillo I Am Not a Witch Rungano Nyoni Lady Macbeth William OldroydLoveless Нелюбовь Andrey Zvyagintsev 2019 Roma Alfonso Cuarón Burning버닝Lee Chang-dong Happy as LazzaroLazzaro feliceAlice Rohrwacher The FavouriteYorgos LanthimosShoplifters万引き家族Hirokazu Kore-eda
2020s YearFilmOriginal TitleDirectorCountry2020 Parasite 기생충 Bong Joon-ho The Invisible Life of Eurídice GusmãoA Vida Invisível de Eurídice GusmãoKarim Aïnouz Les MisérablesLadj LyPortrait of a Lady on FirePortrait de la jeune fille en feuCéline Sciamma RetabloAlvaro Delgado-Aparicio The SouvenirJoanna Hogg20212021 Independent Spirit Awards Winner's List|IndieWire Quo Vadis, Aida? Jasmila Žbanić BacurauKleber Mendonça Filho and Juliano Dornelles The DiscipleChaitanya TamhaneNight of the KingsLa Nuit des roisPhilippe LacôtePreparations to Be Together for an Unknown Period of TimeFelkészülés meghatározatlan ideig tartó együttlétreLili Horvát 2022Indie Spirit Awards 2022: Full List of Nominations - VarietyDrive My Carドライブ・マイ・カーRyusuke HamaguchiCompartment No. 6Hytti nro 6 / Купе номер шестьJuho Kuosmanen and Parallel MothersMadres ParalelasPedro Almodóvar Pebblesகூழாங்கல்P.S. VinothrajPetite MamanCéline SciammaPrayers for the StolenNoche de fuegoTatiana Huezo2023JoylandSaim Sadiq, CorsageMarie Kreutzer, , , , Leonor Will Never DieMartika Ramirez EscobarReturn to Seoul Retour à SéoulDavy Chou, , , Saint OmerAlice Diop2024Anatomy of a FallAnatomie d'une chuteJustine Triet Godland Volaða land / Vanskabte Land Hlynur Pálmason, Mami Wata C.J. Obasi, , Tótem Lila Avilés, , The Zone of InterestJonathan Glazer, , 2025FlowStraumeGints Zilbalodis, , All We Imagine as Light Payal Kapadia, , , Black Dog狗阵 Guan Hu Green BorderZielona granica Agnieszka Holland, , , Hard Truths Mike Leigh, 2026The Secret AgentO Agente SecretoKleber Mendonça Filho, , , All That's Left of Youاللي باقي منكCherien Dabis, , , , , , On Becoming a Guinea FowlRungano Nyoni, , , A PoetUn poetaSimón Mesa Soto, , SirātOliver Laxe,
Multiple winners Only 2 directors have won the award multiple times.
Wins Director 3 Jane Campion 2 Alfonso Cuarón
References