The 9th Independent Spirit Awards, honoring the best in independent filmmaking for 1993, were announced on March 19, 1994, at the Hollywood Palladium. The nominations were announced on January 14, 1994. Actor and director Robert Townsend hosted the ceremony, which was previously a position held on to for eight consecutive years by Buck Henry.
Controversy The announcement of that year's nominations—made by a committee of a governing body called the Independent Features Project West—was postponed due to a confusion over the eligibility of Gramercy Pictures' drama A Dangerous Woman. The IFPW board determined that the film, which initially had received two nominations, had been partially funded by Universal Pictures and thus was not eligible, according to then-IFPW President Cathy Main; Gramercy Pictures is jointly owned by Universal Pictures and PolyGram Filmed Entertainment. In response, Gramercy Pictures President Russell Schwartz said the IFPW's rules "make no sense" and the IFPW is "as archaic as the (Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences') foreign language rules". Schwartz also added that Universal's only involvement was to guarantee a bank loan to the filmmaker and its money was not used.
Winners and nominees
Best FeatureBest Director Short Cuts Equinox Much Ado About Nothing Ruby in Paradise The Wedding Banquet Robert Altman – Short Cuts Ang Lee – The Wedding Banquet Victor Nuñez – Ruby in Paradise Robert Rodriguez – El Mariachi John Turturro – MacBest Male LeadBest Female Lead Jeff Bridges – American Heart Vincent D'Onofrio – Household Saints Mitchell Lichtenstein – The Wedding Banquet Matthew Modine – Equinox Tyrin Turner – Menace II Society Ashley Judd – Ruby in Paradise Suzy Amis – The Ballad of Little Jo May Chin – The Wedding Banquet Ariyan A. Johnson – Just Another Girl on the I.R.T. Emma Thompson – Much Ado About NothingBest Supporting MaleBest Supporting Female Christopher Lloyd – Twenty Bucks David Chung – The Ballad of Little Jo Tate Donovan – Inside Monkey Zetterland Todd Field – Ruby in Paradise Edward Furlong – American Heart Lili Taylor – Household Saints Lara Flynn Boyle – Equinox Ah-Leh Gua – The Wedding Banquet Lucinda Jenney – American Heart Julianne Moore – Short CutsBest ScreenplayBest First Feature Short Cuts – Robert Altman and Frank Barhydt Combination Platter – Edwin Baker and Tony Chan Household Saints – Nancy Savoca and Richard Guay Ruby in Paradise – Victor Nuñez The Wedding Banquet – Ang Lee, Neil Peng, and James Schamus El Mariachi – Robert Rodriguez American Heart Combination Platter Mac – John Turturro Menace II Society – The Hughes Brothers |- !Best Cinematography !Best International Film |- | Menace II Society – Lisa Rinzler American Heart – James R. Bagdonas Chain of Desire – Nancy Schreiber Equinox – Elliot Davis Ruby in Paradise – Alex Vlacos | The Piano'' • Australia / New Zealand Like Water for Chocolate • Mexico Naked • UK Orlando • UK The Story of Qiu Ju'' • China / Hong Kong
Films with multiple nominations and awards
Films that received multiple nominations Nominations Film 6 Ruby in Paradise The Wedding Banquet 5 American Heart 4 Equinox Short Cuts 3 Household Saints Menace II Society 2 The Ballad of Little Jo Combination Platter El Mariachi Mac Much Ado About Nothing
Films that won multiple awards Awards Film 3 Short Cuts
Special awards
John Cassavetes Award Jim Jarmusch
Special Distinction Award Sandra Schulberg
References
External links 1993 Spirit Awards at IMDb Official ceremony on YouTube