The 5th Independent Spirit Awards, honoring the best in independent filmmaking for 1989, were announced on March 24, 1990 at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel in Los Angeles. It was hosted by Buck Henry.
Winners and nominees
{ | class="wikitable" !Best Feature !Best Director |- |Sex, Lies, and Videotape
Drugstore Cowboy
Heat and Sunlight
Mystery Train
True Love
|Steven Soderbergh – Sex, Lies, and Videotape
Jim Jarmusch – Mystery Train
Charles Lane – Sidewalk Stories
Nancy Savoca – True Love
Gus Van Sant – Drugstore Cowboy
|-
!Best Actor
!Best Actress
|-
|Matt Dillon – Drugstore Cowboy
Nicolas Cage – Vampire's Kiss
Charles Lane – Sidewalk Stories
Randy Quaid – Parents
James Spader – Sex, Lies, and Videotape
|Andie MacDowell – Sex, Lies, and Videotape
Youki Kudoh – Mystery Train
Kelly Lynch – Drugstore Cowboy
Winona Ryder – Heathers
Annabella Sciorra – True Love
|-
!Best Supporting Actor
!Best Supporting Actress
|-
|Max Perlich – Drugstore Cowboy
Steve Buscemi – Mystery Train
Scott Coffey – Shag
Gary Farmer – Powwow Highway
Screamin' Jay Hawkins – Mystery Train
|Laura San Giacomo – Sex, Lies, and Videotape
Bridget Fonda – Shag
Heather Graham – Drugstore Cowboy
Mare Winningham – Miracle Mile
Mary Woronov – Scenes from the Class Struggle in Beverly Hills
|-
!Best Screenplay
!Best First Feature
|-
|Drugstore Cowboy – Gus Van Sant and Daniel Yost84 Charlie Mopic – Patrick S. Duncan Heathers – Daniel Waters Miracle Mile – Steve De Jarnatt Mystery Train – Jim Jarmusch |Heathers