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.
Additionally, this ceremony is notable for when presenter Brittany Murphy seemingly bungled the reading of the winner for Best Debut Performance. 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.
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?.
Winners and nominees
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 Charlotte Sometimes Dahmer Ivans Xtc The Slaughter Rule
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
External links 2002 Spirit Awards at IMDb