The 16th Independent Spirit Awards, honoring excellence in independent film, took place on March 24, 2001 on Santa Monica beach.
| Feature | Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon |
| First Feature (More Than $500,000) | Kenneth Lonergan, You Can Count on Me |
| First Feature (Less Than $500,000) | Miguel Arteta, Chuck & Buck |
| Male Lead | Javier Bardem, Before Night Falls |
| Female Lead | Ellen Burstyn, Requiem for a Dream |
| Supporting Male | Willem Dafoe, Shadow of the Vampire |
| Supporting Female | Zhang Ziyi, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon |
| Debut Performance | Michelle Rodriguez, Girlfight |
| Director | Ang Lee, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon |
| Screenplay | Kenneth Lonergan, You Can Count on Me |
| First Screenplay | Gina Prince-Bythewood, Love & Basketball |
| Cinematography | Matthew Labatique, Requiem for a Dream |
| Foreign Film | Lars Von Trier, Dancer in the Dark (Denmark) |
| Movado Someone to Watch Award | Marc Forster, Everything Put Together |
| Motorola Producers Award | Paul Mezey, The Ballad of Ramblin Jack and Spring Forward |
| DirectTv/IFC Truer Than Fiction Award | David Shapiro, Laurie Shapiro, Keep the River on Your Right: A Modern Cannibal Tale |
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