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3rd Independent Spirit Awards (1988)
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Spirit Awards 1988 Winners & Nominees

The 3rd Independent Spirit Awards (1988) took place on February 11, 1988. River's Edge won Best Feature and one more award. Dead Ringers matched it with 2 wins. Every winner and nominee in all 10 categories is below.

All 10 categories Most wins
categories
10
nominations
35
films nominated
17
winners
9
Held on
Best Feature
River's Edge
Headline winners

Spirit Awards 1988: The Winners

River's Edge won Best Feature against 4 other nominees. John Huston (Best Director), Dennis Quaid (Best Male Lead) and Morgan Freeman (Best Supporting Male) took the main individual prizes.

River's Edge (1987) movie poster Best Feature

Best Feature

River's Edge

1987 · Drama, Crime · $4.6M worldwide

2 wins from 3 nominations at the 3rd Independent Spirit Awards (1988)

  • Best Screenplay

Near a riverbank outside a quiet California town, a shocking crime sends ripples through a group of teenagers. Samson's actions have devastating consequences, and his friends struggle to cope with the fallout. As they try to move on, Layne attempts to keep the truth hidden, but Matt and Clarissa become increasingly disturbed by the events. The group must confront the disturbing reality of their friend's actions and the moral implications that arise.

About River's Edge
Scoreboard

Spirit Awards 1988: Which Films Won the Most

Dead Ringers and River's Edge won 2 awards each. 7 films won at least once, while Swimming to Cambodia went home empty-handed from 4 nominations. Green is wins, blue is nominations.

  1. Dead Ringers (1988) movie poster
    Dead Ringers 2 / 5
    1988 · Drama, Thriller · 2 wins from 5 nominations
  2. River's Edge (1987) movie poster
    River's Edge 2 / 3
    1987 · Drama, Crime · 2 wins from 3 nominations
  3. Matewan (1987) movie poster
    Matewan 1 / 6
    1987 · Drama, History · 1 win from 6 nominations
  4. The Big Easy (1987) movie poster
    The Big Easy 1 / 3
    1987 · Drama, Thriller · 1 win from 3 nominations
  5. Street Smart (1987) movie poster
    Street Smart 1 / 2
    1987 · Drama, Thriller · 1 win from 2 nominations
  6. Dirty Dancing (1987) movie poster
    Dirty Dancing 1 / 1
    1987 · Drama, Romance · 1 win from 1 nomination
  7. My Life as a Dog (1987) movie poster
    My Life as a Dog 1 / 1
    1987 · Drama, Comedy · 1 win from 1 nomination
  8. Swimming to Cambodia (1987) movie poster
    Swimming to Cambodia 0 / 4
    1987 · Drama · 0 wins from 4 nominations
  9. Barfly (1987) movie poster
    Barfly 0 / 2
    1987 · Drama, Comedy · 0 wins from 2 nominations
  10. Au Revoir les Enfants (1988) movie poster
    Au Revoir les Enfants 0 / 1
    1988 · Drama, War · 0 wins from 1 nomination
Full results

All 10 Spirit Awards 1988 Categories: Winners & Nominees

10 categories and 35 nominations. The winner of each comes first, on a green row. Search for a film or a person, show only the winners, or jump straight to a category.

10 categories · 35 nominations

Jump to a category
Movie marathon

The Spirit Awards 1988 Best Feature Marathon

All 5 Best Feature nominees at the 3rd Independent Spirit Awards (1988), back to back: 8 hours 57 minutes.

Total running time 8h 57m 8 hours 57 minutes All 5 films
Longest
Matewan 2h 15m
Shortest
Swimming to Cambodia 1h 25m
By genre

The Genres Behind the Spirit Awards 1988 Winners

Drama led with 31 nominations across 13 films and won 9. A film with several genres counts for each one.

  1. Drama 9 wins · 31 nominations · 29%
  2. Romance 4 wins · 13 nominations · 31%
  3. Thriller 4 wins · 12 nominations · 33%
  4. Crime 4 wins · 8 nominations · 50%
  5. History 1 win · 6 nominations · 17%
  6. Comedy 1 win · 6 nominations · 17%
  7. Horror 0 wins · 1 nomination · 0%
  8. Mystery 0 wins · 1 nomination · 0%
  9. War 0 wins · 1 nomination · 0%
  10. Biography 0 wins · 1 nomination · 0%
1988 season

How the Rest of the 1988 Awards Season Voted

The other 6 ceremonies of 1988, with the winner of each top prize. The Last Emperor won the most of them: 2.

All 1988 awards
Earlier years

Previous Spirit Awards Ceremonies

The 2 ceremonies before this one, with the winner of each top prize. The Spirit Awards page has every year back to 1986.

Every Spirit Awards ceremony

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FAQ

Spirit Awards 1988: Questions & Answers

The top prize, the film that won the most, the most-nominated film, the individual winners and the date of the 3rd Independent Spirit Awards (1988), answered from the results on this page.

Who won Best Feature at the 3rd Independent Spirit Awards (1988)?

River's Edge (1987) won Best Feature. The other nominees were The Big Easy, Dead Ringers, Matewan and Swimming to Cambodia.

About River's Edge

Which film won the most awards at the 3rd Independent Spirit Awards (1988)?

Dead Ringers and River's Edge each won 2 awards.

Which film had the most nominations at the 3rd Independent Spirit Awards (1988)?

Matewan (1987) led with 6 nominations and won one of them.

Who won the acting and directing awards at the 3rd Independent Spirit Awards (1988)?

Best Director: John Huston for Dead Ringers. Best Male Lead: Dennis Quaid for The Big Easy. Best Supporting Male: Morgan Freeman for Street Smart. Best Supporting Female: Anjelica Huston for Dead Ringers.

When was the 3rd Independent Spirit Awards (1988)?

The 3rd Independent Spirit Awards (1988) took place on February 11, 1988. The database has 10 categories and 35 nominations for it.