Independent Spirit Awards of 1989

The 4th Annual Independent Spirit Awards, given by Film Independent, honored the best independent filmmaking of 1988.

Best Cinematography

* "Patti Rocks" - Gregory Cummins
* "Stand and Deliver" - Tom Richmond
* "Talk Radio" - Robert Richardson
* "The Moderns" - Toyomichi Kurita
* "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" - Sven Nykvist

Best Director

* "Hairspray" - John Waters
* "Patti Rocks" - David Burton Morris
* "Stand and Deliver" - Ramon Menendez
* "Talk Radio" - Oliver Stone
* "The Thin Blue Line" - Errol Morris

Best Feature

* "Hairspray" - Rachel Talalay
* "Patti Rocks" - Gregory Cummins, Gwen Field
* "Stand and Deliver" - Tom Musca
* "The Thin Blue Line" - Mark Lipson
* "Torch Song Trilogy" - Howard Gottfried

Best Female Lead

* "Five corners" - Jodie Foster
* "Hairspray" - Ricki Lake
* "Mystic Pizza" - Julia Roberts
* "Promised Land" - Meg Ryan
* "The Wash" - Nobu McCarthy

Best First Feature

* "Border Radio" - Allison Anders, Dean Lent, Kurt Voss
* "Mystic Pizza" - Donald Petrie
* "Prince of Pennsylvania" - Ron Nyswaner
* "The Chocolate War" - Keith Gordon
* "The Wash" - Michael Uno

Best Foreign Film

* "A World Apart" - Sarah Radclyffe, Chris Menges
* "Bagdad Cafe" - Percy Adlon, Eleonore Adlon
* "Brightness" - Soulemane Cisse
* "The Kitchen Toto" - Ann Skinner, Harry Hook
* "Wings of Desire" - Anatole Dauman, Wim Wenders

Best Male Lead

* "Patti Rocks" - Chris Mulkey
* "Stand and Deliver" - Edward James Olmos
* "Talk Radio" - Eric Bogosian
* "The Boost" - James Woods
* "Torch Song Trilogy" - Harvey Fierstein

Best Screenplay

* "Five Corners" - John Patrick Shanley
* "Hairspray" - John Waters
* "Patti Rocks" - John Jenkins, Karen Landry, David Burton Morris, Chris Mulkey
* "Stand and Deliver" - Ramon Menendez, Tom Musca
* "The Moderns" - Alan Rodolph, Jon Bradshaw

Best Supporting Female

* "Hairspray" - Debbie Harry
* "Prince of Pennsylvania" - Amy Madigan, Bonnie Bedelia
* "Stand and Deliver" - Rosanna De Soto
* "The Wash" - Patti Yasutake

Best Supporting Male

* "Five Corners" - John Turturro
* "Hairspray" - Divine
* "Spike of Bensonhurst" - Ernest Borgnine
* "Stand and Deliver" - Lou Diamond Phillips
* "The Moderns" - John Lone