Independent Spirit Award/Beste Regie

1986

Joel Coen – Blood Simple – Eine mörderische Nacht (Blood Simple)
Martin Scorsese – Die Zeit nach Mitternacht (After Hours)

• Joyce Chopra – Bedrohliches Geflüster (Smooth Talk)
• Peter Masterson – A Trip to Bountiful – Reise ins Glück (The Trip to Bountiful)

1987

Oliver Stone – Platoon

• Jim Jarmusch – Down by Law
• David Lynch – Blue Velvet
• Rob Reiner – Stand by Me – Das Geheimnis eines Sommers (Stand by Me)
• Oliver Stone – Salvador

1988

John Huston – Die Toten (The Dead)

• Jonathan Demme – Nach Kambodscha schwimmen (Swimming to Cambodia)
• Tim Hunter – Das Messer am Ufer (River’s Edge)
• Jim McBride – The Big Easy – Der große Leichtsinn (The Big Easy)
• John Sayles – Matewan

1989

Ramón Menéndez – Stand and Deliver

• David Burton Morris – Patti Rocks – Sex macht Spaß (Patti Rocks)
• Errol Morris – Der Fall Randall Adams (The Thin Blue Line)
• Oliver Stone – Talk Radio
• John Waters – Hairspray

1990

Steven Soderbergh – Sex, Lügen und Video (Sex, Lies, and Videotape)

• Jim Jarmusch – Mystery Train
• Charles Lane – Sidewalk Stories
• Nancy Savoca – Wahre Liebe (True Love)
• Gus Van Sant – Drugstore Cowboy

1991

Charles Burnett – Zorniger Schlaf (To Sleep with Anger)

• Reginald Hudlin – House Party
• John McNaughton – Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer
• Allan Moyle – Hart auf Sendung (Pump Up the Volume)
• Michael Roemer – Das Komplott gegen Harry (The Plot Against Harry)

1992

Martha Coolidge – Die Lust der schönen Rose (Rambling Rose)

• Todd Haynes – Poison
• Richard Linklater – Rumtreiber (Slacker)
• Gus Van Sant – My Private Idaho (My Own Private Idaho)
• Joseph B. Vasquez – Hangin’ Out – 4 Homeboys unterwegs (Hangin' with the Homeboys)

1993

Carl Franklin – One False Move

• Allison Anders – Gas Food Lodging
• Abel Ferrara – Bad Lieutenant
• Tom Kalin – Swoon
• Quentin Tarantino – Reservoir Dogs – Wilde Hunde (Reservoir Dogs)

1994

Robert Altman – Short Cuts

• Ang Lee – Das Hochzeitsbankett (喜宴, Hsi yen)
• Victor Nuñez – Ruby in Paradise
• Robert Rodriguez – El Mariachi
• John Turturro – Mac

1995

Quentin Tarantino – Pulp Fiction

• John Dahl – Red Rock West
• Ang Lee – Eat Drink Man Woman (飲食男女, Yǐn Shí Nán Nǚ)
• Roman Polanski – Der Tod und das Mädchen (Death and the Maiden)
• Alan Rudolph – Mrs. Parker und ihr lasterhafter Kreis (Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle)

1996

Mike Figgis – Leaving Las Vegas

• Michael Almereyda – Nadja
• Ulu Grosbard – Georgia
• Todd Haynes – Safe
• John Sayles – Das Geheimnis des Seehund-Babys (The Secret of Roan Inish)

1997

Joel Coen – Fargo

• Abel Ferrara – Das Begräbnis (The Funeral)
• David O. Russell – Flirting with Disaster – Ein Unheil kommt selten allein (Flirting with Disaster)
• Todd Solondz – Willkommen im Tollhaus (Welcome to the Dollhouse)
• Robert M. Young – Caught – Im Netz der Leidenschaft (Caught)

1998

Robert Duvall – Apostel! (The Apostle)

• Larry Fessenden – Habit
• Victor Nuñez – Ulee’s Gold
• Paul Schrader – Touch
• Wim Wenders – Am Ende der Gewalt (The End of Violence)

1999

Wes Anderson – Rushmore

• Todd Haynes – Velvet Goldmine
• Lodge Kerrigan – Claire Dolan
• Paul Schrader – Der Gejagte (Affliction)
• Todd Solondz – Happiness

2000

Alexander Payne – Election

• Harmony Korine – Julien Donkey-Boy
• Doug Liman – Go – Das Leben beginnt erst um 3.00 Uhr (Go)
• David Lynch – Eine wahre Geschichte – The Straight Story (The Straight Story)
• Steven Soderbergh – The Limey

2001

Ang Lee – Tiger & Dragon (臥虎藏龍; Wòhǔ Cánglóng)

• Darren Aronofsky – Requiem for a Dream
• Miguel Arteta – Chuck & Buck
• Christopher Guest – Best in Show
• Julian Schnabel – Before Night Falls

2002

Christopher Nolan – Memento

• Michael Cuesta – L.I.E. – Long Island Expressway (L.I.E.)
• Cheryl Dunye – Die Fremde (Stranger Inside)
• Richard Linklater – Waking Life
• John Cameron Mitchell – Hedwig and the Angry Inch

2003

Todd Haynes – Dem Himmel so fern (Far from Heaven)

• Joe Carnahan – Narc
• Nicole Holofcener – Lovely & Amazing
• Bernard Rose – Ivans XTC
• Gus Van Sant – Gerry

2004

Sofia Coppola – Lost in Translation

• Shari Springer Berman und Robert Pulcini – American Splendor
• Jim Sheridan – In America
• Peter Sollett – Sommer in New York (Raising Victor Vargas)
• Gus Van Sant – Elephant

2005

Alexander Payne – Sideways

• Shane Carruth – Primer
• Joshua Marston – Maria voll der Gnade (Maria Full of Grace)
• Walter Salles – Die Reise des jungen Che (The Motorcycle Diaries)
• Mario Van Peebles – Baadasssss!

2006

Ang Lee – Brokeback Mountain

• Gregg Araki – Mysterious Skin – Unter die Haut (Mysterious Skin)
• Noah Baumbach – Der Tintenfisch und der Wal (The Squid and the Whale)
• George Clooney – Good Night, and Good Luck.
• Rodrigo García – Nine Lives

2007

Jonathan Dayton und Valerie Faris – Little Miss Sunshine

• Robert Altman – Robert Altman’s Last Radio Show (A Prairie Home Companion)
• Ryan Fleck – Half Nelson
• Karen Moncrieff – Dead Girl (The Dead Girl)
• Steven Soderbergh – Bubble

2008

Julian Schnabel – Schmetterling und Taucherglocke (Le scaphandre et le papillon)

• Todd Haynes – I’m Not There
• Tamara Jenkins – Die Geschwister Savage (The Savages)
• Jason Reitman – Juno
• Gus Van Sant – Paranoid Park

2009

Tom McCarthy – Ein Sommer in New York – The Visitor (The Visitor)

• Ramin Bahrani – Chop Shop
• Jonathan Demme – Rachels Hochzeit (Rachel Getting Married)
• Lance Hammer – Ballast
• Courtney Hunt – Frozen River

2010

Lee Daniels – Precious – Das Leben ist kostbar (Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire)

• Ethan und Joel Coen – A Serious Man
• Cary Jôji Fukunaga – Sin nombre
• James Gray – Two Lovers
• Michael Hoffman – Ein russischer Sommer (The Last Station)

2011

Darren Aronofsky – Black Swan

• Danny Boyle – 127 Hours
• Lisa Cholodenko – The Kids Are All Right
• Debra Granik – Winter’s Bone
• John Cameron Mitchell – Rabbit Hole

2012

Michel Hazanavicius – The Artist

• Mike Mills – Beginners
• Jeff Nichols – Take Shelter – Ein Sturm zieht auf (Take Shelter)
• Alexander Payne – The Descendants – Familie und andere Angelegenheiten (The Descendants)
• Nicolas Winding Refn – Drive

2013

David O. Russell – Silver Linings (Silver Linings Playbook)

• Wes Anderson – Moonrise Kingdom
• Julia Loktev – The Loneliest Planet
• Ira Sachs – Keep the Lights On
• Benh Zeitlin – Beasts of the Southern Wild

2014

Steve McQueen – 12 Years a Slave

• Shane Carruth – Upstream Color
• J. C. Chandor – All Is Lost
• Jeff Nichols – Mud
• Alexander Payne – Nebraska

2015

Richard Linklater – Boyhood

• Damien Chazelle – Whiplash
• Ava DuVernay – Selma
• Alejandro González Iñárritu – Birdman oder (Die unverhoffte Macht der Ahnungslosigkeit) (Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance))
• David Zellner – Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter

2016

Tom McCarthy – Spotlight

• Sean Baker – Tangerine L.A. (Tangerine)
• Cary Joji Fukunaga – Beasts of No Nation
• Todd Haynes – Carol
• Charlie Kaufman und Duke Johnson – Anomalisa
• David Robert Mitchell – It Follows

2017

Barry Jenkins – Moonlight

• Andrea Arnold – American Honey
• Pablo Larraín – Jackie: Die First Lady (Jackie)
• Jeff Nichols – Loving
• Kelly Reichardt – Certain Women

2018

Jordan Peele – Get Out

• Sean Baker – The Florida Project
• Jonas Carpignano – Pio (A Ciambra)
• Luca Guadagnino – Call Me by Your Name
• Benny Safdie und Josh Safdie – Good Time
• Chloé Zhao – The Rider

2019

Barry Jenkins – If Beale Street Could Talk

• Paul Schrader – First Reformed
• Debra Granik – Leave No Trace
• Tamara Jenkins – Private Life
• Lynne Ramsay – A Beautiful Day (You Were Never Really Here)

2020

Benny und Josh Safdie – Der schwarze Diamant (Uncut Gems)

• Robert Eggers – Der Leuchtturm (The Lighthouse)
• Alma Har'el – Honey Boy
• Julius Onah – Luce
• Lorene Scafaria – Hustlers

2021

Chloé Zhao – Nomadland

• Lee Isaac Chung – Minari – Wo wir Wurzeln schlagen (Minari)
• Emerald Fennell – Promising Young Woman
• Eliza Hittman – Niemals Selten Manchmal Immer (Never Rarely Sometimes Always)
• Kelly Reichardt – First Cow

2022

Maggie Gyllenhaal – Frau im Dunkeln (The Lost Daughter)

• Janicza Bravo – Zola
• Lauren Hadaway – Die Novizin (The Novice)
• Mike Mills – Come on, Come on
• Ninja Thyberg – Pleasure

2023

Daniel Kwan und Daniel Scheinert – Everything Everywhere All at Once

• Todd Field – Tár
• Kogonada – After Yang
• Sarah Polley – Die Aussprache (Women Talking)
• Halina Reijn – Bodies Bodies Bodies