3rd Independent Spirit Awards
# 3rd Independent Spirit Awards

The 3rd Independent Spirit Awards, honoring the best in independent filmmaking for 1987, were announced on February 11, 1988. The ceremony was hosted by Buck Henry and was held at 385 North, a restaurant in Los Angeles.

## Winners and nominees

| Best Feature | Best Director |
| - | - |
| River's Edge The Big Easy The Dead Matewan Swimming to Cambodia Tough Guys Don't Dance | John Huston – The Dead Jonathan Demme – Swimming to Cambodia Tim Hunter – River's Edge Jim McBride – The Big Easy John Sayles – Matewan |
| Best Male Lead | Best Female Lead |
| Dennis Quaid – The Big Easy Spalding Gray – Swimming to Cambodia Terry O'Quinn – The Stepfather Mickey Rourke – Barfly James Woods – Best Seller | Sally Kirkland – Anna Lillian Gish – The Whales of August Debra Sandlund – Tough Guys Don't Dance Louise Smith – Working Girls Joanne Woodward – The Glass Menagerie |
| Best Supporting Male | Best Supporting Female |
| Morgan Freeman – Street Smart Wings Hauser – Tough Guys Don't Dance James Earl Jones – Matewan Vincent Price – The Whales of August David Strathairn – Matewan | Anjelica Huston – The Dead Karen Allen – The Glass Menagerie Kathy Baker – Street Smart Martha Plimpton – Shy People Ann Sothern – The Whales of August |
| Best Screenplay | Best Cinematography |
| River's Edge – Neal Jimenez Anna – Agnieszka Holland The Dead – Tony Huston Matewan – John Sayles Swimming to Cambodia – Spalding Gray | Matewan – Haskell Wexler Barfly – Robby Müller The Dead – Fred Murphy Slam Dance – Amir Mokri Tough Guys Don't Dance – John Bailey |
| Best First Feature | Best International Film |
| Dirty Dancing – Emile Ardolino Anna – Yurek Bogayevicz Hollywood Shuffle – Robert Townsend Siesta – Mary Lambert Waiting for the Moon – Jill Godmilow | My Life as a Dog • Sweden Au revoir les enfants • France / West Germany Hope and Glory • United Kingdom Prick Up Your Ears • United Kingdom Tampopo • Japan |

### Films with multiple nominations and awards

Films that received multiple nominations :

| Nominations | Film |
| - | - |
| 6 | Matewan |
| 5 | The Dead |
| 4 | Swimming to Cambodia |
| 4 | Tough Guys Don't Dance |
| 3 | Anna |
| 3 | The Big Easy |
| 3 | River's Edge |
| 3 | The Whales of August |
| 2 | Barfly |
| 2 | The Glass Menagerie |
| 2 | Street Smart |

Films that won multiple awards :

| Awards | Film |
| - | - |
| 2 | The Dead |
| 2 | River's Edge |
