Sutradara Terbaik (Independent Spirit Award)

1980an

  • 1985: Joel Coen – Blood Simple / Martin Scorsese – After Hours
    • Joyce Chopra – Smooth Talk
    • Peter Masterson – The Trip to Bountiful
  • 1986: Oliver Stone – Platoon †
    • Jim Jarmusch – Down by Law
    • David Lynch – Blue Velvet
    • Rob Reiner – Stand by Me
    • Oliver Stone – Salvador
  • 1987: John Huston – The Dead
    • Jonathan Demme – Swimming to Cambodia
    • Tim Hunter – River's Edge
    • Jim McBride – The Big Easy
    • John Sayles – Matewan
  • 1988: Ramon Menendez – Stand and Deliver
    • David Burton Morris – Patti Rocks
    • Errol Morris – The Thin Blue Line
    • Oliver Stone – Talk Radio
    • John Waters – Hairspray
  • 1989: Steven Soderbergh – Sex, Lies, and Videotape
    • Jim Jarmusch – Mystery Train
    • Charles Lane – Sidewalk Stories
    • Nancy Savoca – True Love
    • Gus Van Sant – Drugstore Cowboy