The 18th Independent Spirit Awards, honoring the best in

independent filmmaking An independent film, independent movie, indie film, or indie movie is a feature film or short film that is produced outside the major film studio system, in addition to being produced and distributed by independent entertainment companies (or, i ...

for 2002, were presented on March 22, 2003. The nominations were announced on December 12, 2002. It was hosted by

John Waters John Samuel Waters Jr. (born April 22, 1946) is an American filmmaker, writer, actor, and artist. He rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films, including '' Multiple Maniacs'' (1970), '' Pink Flamingos'' (1972) and '' Fe ...

. Additionally, this ceremony is notable for when presenter

Brittany Murphy Brittany Anne Murphy-Monjack (; November 10, 1977 – December 20, 2009) was an American actress and singer. Born in Atlanta, Murphy moved to Los Angeles as a teenager and pursued a career in acting. Her breakthrough role was as Tai Fras ...

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
here Here is an adverb that means "in, on, or at this place". It may also refer to: Software * Here Technologies, a mapping company * Here WeGo (formerly Here Maps), a mobile app and map website by Here Technologies, Here Television * Here TV (form ...
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 HBO Max is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in the United States on May 27, 2020, the service is built around the libraries of HBO, Warner Bros., Cartoon Netw ...

documentary titled ''What Happened, Brittany Murphy?''.

Winners and nominees

Julianne Moore 66ème Festival de Venise (Mostra) color crop

Special awards

John Cassavetes Award

'' Personal Velocity: Three Portraits'' * '' Charlotte Sometimes'' * '' Dahmer'' * '' ivans xtc.'' * ''

The Slaughter Rule ''The Slaughter Rule'' is a 2002 independent film directed by Alex Smith and Andrew J. Smith and starring Ryan Gosling and David Morse (actor), David Morse. The film, set in contemporary Montana, explores the relationship between a small-town hig ...

Truer Than Fiction Award

Jennifer Dworkin – '' Love & Diane'' *

Jeffrey Blitz Jeffrey Blitz is an American film director, screenwriter and producer best known for the documentary '' Spellbound'' (2003), ''The Office'' (2007 - 2010), the fiction film '' Rocket Science'' (2007) and ''Comedy Central’s'' ''Review'' (2014 ...

– '' Spellbound'' *

Eugene Jarecki Eugene Jarecki (born October 5, 1969) is an American filmmaker and author. He is best known as a two-time winner of the Sundance Grand Jury Prize, as well as multiple Emmy and Peabody Awards, for his films '' Why We Fight'', ''Reagan'', and '' T ...

– ''

The Trials of Henry Kissinger ''The Trials of Henry Kissinger'' is a 2002 documentary film directed by Eugene Jarecki and narrated by Brian Cox. Inspired by Christopher Hitchens' 2001 book ''The Trial of Henry Kissinger'', the film examines war crimes alleged to have been per ...

'' * Mark Moskowitz – '' Stone Reader''

Producers Award

Effie Brown – ''

Real Women Have Curves ''Real Women Have Curves'' is a 2002 American comedy-drama film directed by Patricia Cardoso, based on the Real Women Have Curves (play), play of the same name by Josefina López, who co-authored the screenplay for the film with George LaVoo. Th ...

'' and '' Stranger Inside'' * Allen Bain and Jesse Scolaro – ''Cry Funny Happy'' and '' Manito'' * Eden Wurmfeld – ''

Fanci's Persuasion ''Fanci's Persuasion'' is a 1995 American film directed by Charles Herman-Wurmfeld Charles Herman-Wurmfeld (born July 5, 1966) is an American film and television director A television director is in charge of the activities involved in mak ...

'' and ''

Kissing Jessica Stein ''Kissing Jessica Stein'' is a 2001 American independent romantic comedy film, written and co-produced by the film's stars, Jennifer Westfeldt and Heather Juergensen. The film also stars Tovah Feldshuh and is directed by Charles Herman-Wurmfeld. I ...

Someone to Watch Award

Przemysław Reut – '' Paradox Lake'' *

Eric Eason Eric Eason is an American film director and screenwriter. ''Manito'' His first feature film '' Manito'' premiered at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival where it won the Special Jury Prize and went on to win 16 awards on the International Festival C ...

– '' Manito'' *

Eitan Gorlin Eitan Gorlin (born 1969 in Washington, D.C.) is a filmmaker, author and actor. He is known for his portrayal of Martin Eisenstadt, a satirical depiction of a McCain campaign adviser. Even though Eisenstadt was said to be part of the "Harding In ...

– ''

The Holy Land The Holy Land; Arabic: or is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. The term "Holy L ...

Winners and nominees

Special awards

John Cassavetes Award

Truer Than Fiction Award

Producers Award

Someone to Watch Award

Films with multiple wins and nominations

Films that received multiple nominations

Films that won multiple awards

References

External links