The 19th Independent Spirit Awards, honoring the best in independent filmmaking for 2003, were announced on February 28, 2004. It was hosted by John Waters. Nominees and winners {| class="wikitable" !Best Feature !Best Director |- |Lost in Translation American Splendor In America Raising Victor Vargas Shattered Glass |Sofia Coppola – Lost in Translation Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini – American Splendor Jim Sheridan – In America Peter Sollett – Raising Victor Vargas Gus Van Sant – Elephant |- !Best Male Lead !Best Female Lead |- |Bill Murray – Lost in Translation Peter Dinklage – The Station Agent Paul Giamatti – American Splendor Ben Kingsley – House of Sand and Fog Lee Pace – Soldier's Girl |Charlize Theron – Monster Agnes Bruckner – Blue Car Zooey Deschanel – All the Real Girls Samantha Morton – In America Elisabeth Moss – Virgin |- !Best Supporting Male !Best Supporting Female |- |Djimon Hounsou – In America Judah Friedlander – American Splendor Troy Garity – Soldier's Girl Alessandro Nivola – Laurel Canyon Peter Sarsgaard – Shattered Glass |Shohreh Aghdashloo – House of Sand and Fog Sarah Bolger – In America Patricia Clarkson – Pieces of April Hope Davis – The Secret Lives of Dentists Frances McDormand – Laurel Canyon |- !Best Screenplay !Best First Screenplay |- |Lost in Translation – Sofia CoppolaAmerican Splendor – Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini A Mighty Wind – Christopher Guest, Eugene Levy (and the rest of the cast) Pieces of April – Peter Hedges Shattered Glass – Billy Ray |The Station Agent – Tom McCarthyBlue Car – Karen Moncrieff Monster – Patty Jenkins Raising Victor Vargas – Peter Sollett and Eva Vives Thirteen – Catherine Hardwicke and Nikki Reed |- !Best First Feature !Best Debut Performance |- |Monster Bomb the System House of Sand and Fog Quattro Noza Thirteen |Nikki Reed – Thirteen Anna Kendrick – Camp Judy Marte – Raising Victor Vargas Victor Rasuk – Raising Victor Vargas Janice Richardson – Anne B. Real |- !Best Cinematography !Best Documentary Feature |- |In America – Declan QuinnElephant – Harris Savides Northfork – M. David Mullen Quattro Noza – Derek Cianfrance Shattered Glass – Mandy Walker |The Fog of War Mayor of the Sunset Strip My Architect OT: Our Town Power Trip |- ! colspan="2" | Best Foreign Film |- | colspan="2" |Whale Rider • New ZealandCity of God • Brazil Lilya 4-Ever • Denmark The Magdalene Sisters