Independent Spirit Award for Best Director

The Film Independent's Spirit Award for Best Director is one of the annual awards given by Film Independent.

Winners and nominees

2000s

*"'2000: Ang Lee - "Wo hu cang long (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon)"
**Darren Aronofsky - "Requiem for a Dream"
**Miguel Arteta - "Chuck & Buck"
**Christopher Guest - "Best in Show"
**Julian Schnabel - "Before Night Falls"
*"'2001: Christopher Nolan - "Memento"
**Michael Cuesta - "L.I.E."
**Cheryl Dunye - "Stranger Inside"
**Richard Linklater - "Waking Life"
**John Cameron Mitchell - "Hedwig and the Angry Inch"
*"'2002: Todd Haynes - "Far from Heaven"
**Joe Carnahan - "Narc"
**Nicole Holofcener - "Lovely & Amazing"
**Bernard Rose - "Ivansxtc"
**Gus Van Sant - "Gerry"
*"'2003: Sofia Coppola - "Lost in Translation"
**Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini - "American Splendor"
**Gus Van Sant - "Elephant"
**Jim Sheridan - "In America"
**Peter Sollett - "Raising Victor Vargas"
*"'2004: Alexander Payne - "Sideways"
**Shane Carruth - "Primer"
**Joshua Marston - "Maria, llena eres de gracia (Maria Full of Grace)"
**Mario Van Peebles - "How to Get the Man's Foot Outta Your Ass"
**Walter Salles - "Diarios de motocicleta (The Motorcycle Diaries)"
*"'2005: Ang Lee - "Brokeback Mountain"
**Gregg Araki - "Mysterious Skin"
**Noah Baumbach - "The Squid and the Whale"
**George Clooney - "Good Night, and Good Luck."
**Rodrigo García - "Nine Lives"
*"'2006: Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris - "Little Miss Sunshine"
**Robert Altman - "A Prairie Home Companion"
**Ryan Fleck - "Half Nelson"
**Karen Moncrieff - "The Dead Girl"
**Steven Soderbergh - "Bubble"
*"'2007: Julian Schnabel - "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"
**Todd Haynes - "I'm Not There"
**Tamara Jenkins - "The Savages"
**Jason Reitman - "Juno"
**Gus Van Sant - "Paranoid Park"