The 12th Independent Spirit Awards, honoring the best in independent filmmaking for 1996, were announced on March 22, 1997. It was hosted by Samuel L. Jackson.
Nominees and winners
{| class="wikitable" !Best Feature !Best Director |- |Fargo
Dead Man The Funeral Lone Star Welcome to the Dollhouse |Joel Coen – Fargo
Abel Ferrara – The Funeral David O. Russell – Flirting with Disaster Todd Solondz – Welcome to the Dollhouse Robert M. Young – Caught |- !Best Male Lead !Best Female Lead |- |William H. Macy – Fargo
Chris Cooper – Lone Star Chris Penn – The Funeral Tony Shalhoub – Big Night Stanley Tucci – Big Night |Frances McDormand – Fargo
María Conchita Alonso – Caught Scarlett Johansson – Manny & Lo Catherine Keener – Walking and Talking Renée Zellweger – The Whole Wide World |- !Best Supporting Male !Best Supporting Female |- |Benicio del Toro – Basquiat
Kevin Corrigan – Walking and Talking Matthew Faber – Welcome to the Dollhouse Gary Farmer – Dead Man Richard Jenkins – Flirting with Disaster |Elizabeth Peña – Lone Star
Mary Kay Place – Manny & Lo Queen Latifah – Set It Off Lili Taylor – Girls Town Lily Tomlin – Flirting with Disaster |- !Best Screenplay !Best First Screenplay |- |Fargo – Joel Coen and Ethan CoenDead Man – Jim Jarmusch Flirting with Disaster – David O. Russell The Funeral – Nicholas St. John Lone Star – John Sayles |Big Night – Joseph Tropiano and Stanley TucciGirl 6 – Suzan-Lori Parks Manny & Lo – Lisa Krueger Trees Lounge – Steve Buscemi The Whole Wide World – Michael Scott Myers |- !Best First Feature !Best Debut Performance |- |Sling Blade
Big Night I Shot Andy Warhol Manny & Lo Trees Lounge |Heather Matarazzo – Welcome to the Dollhouse
Jena Malone – Bastard Out of Carolina Brendan Sexton III – Welcome to the Dollhouse Arie Verveen – Caught Jeffrey Wright – Basquiat |- !Best Cinematography !Best Foreign Film |- |Fargo – Roger DeakinsBound – Bill Pope Color of a Brisk and Leaping Day – Rob Sweeney Dead Man – Robby Müller The Funeral – Ken Kelsch |Secrets & Lies • UKBreaking the Waves • Denmark Chungking Express • Hong Kong Lamerica • Italy Trainspotting • UK
Films that received multiple nominations NominationsFilm6Fargo5The FuneralWelcome to the Dollhouse4Big NightDead ManFlirting with DisasterManny & Lo3CaughtLone Star2BasquiatTrees LoungeWalking and TalkingThe Whole Wide World
Films that won multiple awards AwardsFilm6Fargo
Special awards
Truer Than Fiction AwardWhen We Were Kings The Celluloid Closet Looking for Richard Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills Troublesome Creek: A Midwestern
Someone to Watch Award Larry Fessenden – Habit Joe Brewster – The Keeper Chris Smith – American Job
References
External links 1996 Spirit Awards at IMDb The full show on Film Independent's official YouTube channel