The 41st Annual Film Independent Spirit Awards were held Sunday at the Hollywood Palladium, a change of scenery from previous years, when the ceremony took place at the Santa Monica Pier. Hosted by Ego Nwodim, the venue was filled with aspiring artists and established stalwarts—some on their way to potentially winning Academy Awards this season.
Unlike recent years, when leading independent films were also major Oscar contenders—such as Anora and Everything Everywhere All at Once—this year’s nominees showed little crossover with the Academy’s picks. Aside from one of the night’s major winners, Clint Bentley’s Train Dreams, few films are likely to be represented next month at the Dolby Theatre. In many ways, this feels like a return to form for the Spirit Awards, which traditionally spotlight films that might not otherwise receive mainstream recognition.
Among the evening’s winners, Eva Victor took home Best Screenplay for Sorry, Baby, underscoring the sustained enthusiasm for the film throughout the year. Naomie Ackie won Best Supporting Performance in a particularly competitive category. Lurker emerged as a double winner, claiming both Best First Feature and Best First Screenplay, further cementing Alex Russell’s rising profile in Hollywood. Meanwhile, newcomer Kayo Martin won Best Breakthrough Performance for his chilling turn as the bully in The Plague.
There were a few categories where the Spirit Awards may overlap with the Oscars. The Secret Agent won Best International Film, an outcome that appears increasingly likely to repeat on Oscar night. Geeta Gandbhir’s documentary The Perfect Neighbor also won in its category, adding momentum to its awards-season buzz. Two longer shots—but still within the realm of possibility—include Rose Byrne’s Best Leading Performance win for If I Had Legs I’d Kick You and Adolpho Veloso’s Best Cinematography award for Train Dreams. A highlight of the evening was Brazilian actor Wagner Moura presenting the cinematography award to fellow Brazilian Veloso—an especially festive moment as it coincided with the start of Carnival in Brazil.
Following previous hosts such as Aubrey Plaza, Nick Kroll and John Mulaney, and Aidy Bryant in recent years, Nwodim’s hosting felt somewhat subdued. Additionally, bringing Robby Hoffman onstage three separate times to present the grant awards seemed to quiet the room’s energy. Aside from the many attendees wearing “Ice Out” pins and Kumail Nanjiani’s presenter speech—which included a tongue-in-cheek congratulations to white people for “getting back on top”—the ceremony was largely free of overt political commentary. The Secret Agent director Kleber Mendonça Filho noted that all films can be viewed as political, while Bentley spoke about how filmmaking creates small communities—families, even—that can spread joy into the world. Still, there were few direct callouts or pointed statements. In fact, I heard more political commentary during the blue carpet interviews than during the ceremony itself.
Overall, as a voting member of the Film Independent Spirit Awards, I thoroughly enjoyed the season. I appreciated the opportunity to watch series such as Adolescence and The Pitt, along with films like On Becoming a Guinea Fowl and Twinless. It’s refreshing to have an awards body that carves its own path. I’m already looking forward to what next season will bring.
BEST FEATURE
Presented by Regina King
Train Dreams • Netflix
Clint Bentley | Director
Michael Heimler, Will Janowitz, Marissa McMahon, Ashley Schlaifer, Teddy Schwarzman | Producers
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Peter Hujar’s Day • Janus Films
The Plague • IFC Films
Sorry, Baby • A24
Twinless • Roadside Attractions / Lionsgate
BEST FIRST FEATURE
Presented by Jenny Slate
Lurker • MUBI
Alex Russell | Director
Galen Core, Archie Madekwe, Marc Marrie, Charlie McDowell, Francesco Melzi D’Eril, Duncan Montgomery, Alex Orlovsky, Olmo Schnabel, Jack Selby | Producers
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Blue Sun Palace • Dekanalog
Dust Bunny • Lionsgate / Roadside Attractions
East of Wall • Sony Pictures Classics
One of Them Days • TriStar Pictures
JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD
(Given to the best feature made for under $1,000,000)
Presented by Jane Levy & Dylan O’Brien
Esta Isla (This Island) • Experimento Lúdico
Cristian Carretero, Lorraine Jones Molina | Writers/Directors/Producers
Kisha Tikina Burgos | Writer
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The Baltimorons • IFC Films
Boys Go to Jupiter • Cartuna / Irony Point
Eephus • Music Box Films
Familiar Touch • Music Box Films
BEST DIRECTOR
Presented by Lulu Wang
Clint Bentley
Train Dreams • Netflix
Michael Heimler, Will Janowitz, Marissa McMahon, Ashley Schlaifer, Teddy Schwarzman | Producers
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Mary Bronstein – If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
Lloyd Lee Choi – Lucky Lu
Ira Sachs – Peter Hujar’s Day
Eva Victor – Sorry, Baby
BEST SCREENPLAY
Presented by Amy Madigan
Sorry, Baby • A24
Written by Eva Victor
Eva Victor | Director
Mark Ceryak, Barry Jenkins, Adele Romanski | Producers
—
A Little Prayer – Angus MacLachlan
Sovereign – Christian Swegal
Splitsville – Michael Angelo Covino, Kyle Marvin
Twinless – James Sweeney
BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Presented by John Magaro & Lake Bell
Lurker • MUBI
Written by Alex Russell
Alex Russell | Director
Galen Core, Archie Madekwe, Marc Marrie, Charlie McDowell, Francesco Melzi D’Eril, Duncan Montgomery, Alex Orlovsky, Olmo Schnabel, Jack Selby | Producers
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Blue Sun Palace – Constance Tsang
Friendship – Andrew DeYoung
One of Them Days – Syreeta Singleton
Outerlands – Elena Oxman
BEST LEAD PERFORMANCE
Presented by Kate Hudson
Rose Byrne
If I Had Legs I’d Kick You • A24
Mary Bronstein | Director
Sara Murphy, Ryan Zacarias, Ronald Bronstein, Josh Safdie, Eli Bush, Conor Hannon, Richie Doyle | Producers
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Everett Blunck – The Plague
Kathleen Chalfant – Familiar Touch
Chang Chen – Lucky Lu
Joel Edgerton – Train Dreams
Dylan O’Brien – Twinless
Keke Palmer – One of Them Days
Théodore Pellerin – Lurker
Tessa Thompson – Hedda
Ben Whishaw – Peter Hujar’s Day
BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE
Presented by Kumail Nanjiani
Naomi Ackie
Sorry, Baby • A24
Eva Victor | Director
Mark Ceryak, Barry Jenkins, Adele Romanski | Producers
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Zoey Deutch – Nouvelle Vague
Kirsten Dunst – Roofman
Rebecca Hall – Peter Hujar’s Day
Nina Hoss – Hedda
Jane Levy – A Little Prayer
Archie Madekwe – Lurker
Kali Reis – Rebuilding
Jacob Tremblay – Sovereign
Haipeng Xu – Blue Sun Palace
BEST BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE
Presented by Tessa Thompson
Kayo Martin
The Plague • IFC Films
Charlie Polinger | Director
Derek Dauchy, Joel Edgerton, Roy Lee, Lucy McKendrick, Steven Schneider, Lizzie Shapiro | Producers
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Liz Larsen – The Baltimorons
Misha Osherovich – She’s the He
SZA – One of Them Days
Tabatha Zimiga – East of Wall
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Presented by Wagner Moura
Train Dreams • Netflix
Cinematography by Adolpho Veloso
Clint Bentley | Director
Michael Heimler, Will Janowitz, Marissa McMahon, Ashley Schlaifer, Teddy Schwarzman | Producers
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Blue Sun Palace – Norm Li
Dust Bunny – Nicole Hirsch Whitaker
Peter Hujar’s Day – Alex Ashe
Warfare – David J. Thompson
BEST EDITING
Presented by Tig Notaro
The Testament of Ann Lee • Searchlight Pictures
Editing by Sofía Subercaseaux
Mona Fastvold | Director
Brady Corbet, Mona Fastvold, Gregory Jankilevitsch, Joshua Horsfield, Lillian LaSalle, Viktória Petrányi, Mark Lampert, Andrew Morrison, Klaudia Śmieja | Producers
—
Eephus – Carson Lund
Good Boy – Ben Leonberg
Splitsville – Sara Shaw
Warfare – Fin Oates
BEST DOCUMENTARY
Presented by Rose Byrne
The Perfect Neighbor • Netflix
Geeta Gandbhir | Director
Nikon Kwantu, Alisa Payne, Sam Bisbee, Geeta Gandbhir | Producers
—
Come See Me in the Good Light
Endless Cookie
My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air in Moscow
The Tale of Silyan
BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
Presented by Wunmi Mosaku & Delroy Lindo
The Secret Agent (Brazil) • NEON
Kleber Mendonça Filho | Director
Emilie Lesclaux, Kleber Mendonça Filho, Wagner Moura, Brent Travers | Producers
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All That’s Left of You – Palestine, Jordan, Germany, Cyprus, Director: Cherien Dabis
On Becoming a Guinea Fowl – Zambia, UK, Ireland, Director: Rungano Nyoni
A Poet – Colombia, Director: Simón Mesa Soto
Sirāt – Spain, Director: Oliver Laxe
ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD
Presented by Rebecca Hall
The Long Walk • Lionsgate
Francis Lawrence | Director
Rich Delia | Casting Director
Ensemble Cast including Judy Greer, Mark Hamill, Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, Tut Nyuot, Joshua Odjick, Charlie Plummer, Ben Wang, Garrett Wareing
TELEVISION
BEST NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
Presented by Lamorne Morris
Adolescence • Netflix
Jack Thorne, Stephen Graham | Created By/Executive Producers
Philip Barantini, Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Nina Wolarsky, Hannah Walters, Mark Herbert, Emily Feller | Producers
Carina Sposato, Niall Shamma, Peter Balm | Co-Executive Producers
—
Common Side Effects • Adult Swim
Forever • Netflix
Mr Loverman • BritBox
North of North • Netflix
BEST NEW NON-SCRIPTED OR DOCUMENTARY SERIES
Presented by François Arnaud & Kaia Gerber
Pee-wee as Himself • HBO Max
Matt Wolf, Emma Tillinger Koskoff, Ronald Bronstein, Eli Bush, Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie, Paul Reubens, Candace Tomarken, Kyle Martin, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller, Sara Rodriguez | Executive Producers
—
Citizen Nation
Hurricane Katrina: Race Against Time
Seen & Heard: The History of Black Television
Vow of Silence: The Assassination of Annie Mae
BEST LEAD PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
Presented by Judy Greer
Stephen Graham
Adolescence • Netflix
Jack Thorne, Stephen Graham | Created By/Executive Producers
Philip Barantini, Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Nina Wolarsky, Hannah Walters, Mark Herbert, Emily Feller | Producers
Carina Sposato, Niall Shamma, Peter Balm | Co-Executive Producers
—
Sydney Chandler – Alien: Earth
Ethan Hawke – The Lowdown
Lennie James – Mr Loverman
Anna Lambe – North of North
Lola Petticrew – Say Nothing
Seth Rogen – The Studio
Lovie Simone – Forever
Michelle Williams – Dying for Sex
Noah Wyle – The Pitt
BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
Presented by Keke Palmer
Erin Doherty
Adolescence • Netflix
Jack Thorne, Stephen Graham | Created By/Executive Producers
Philip Barantini, Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Nina Wolarsky, Hannah Walters, Mark Herbert, Emily Feller | Producers
Carina Sposato, Niall Shamma, Peter Balm | Co-Executive Producers
—
Ariyon Bakare – Mr Loverman
Babou Ceesay – Alien: Earth
Sharon D. Clarke – Mr Loverman
Taylor Dearden – The Pitt
Stephen McKinley Henderson – A Man on the Inside
Poorna Jagannathan – Deli Boys
Xosha Roquemore – Forever
Jenny Slate – Dying for Sex
Ben Whishaw – Black Doves
BEST BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
Presented by Issa Rae
Owen Cooper
Adolescence • Netflix
Jack Thorne, Stephen Graham | Created By/Executive Producers
Philip Barantini, Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Nina Wolarsky, Hannah Walters, Mark Herbert, Emily Feller | Producers
Carina Sposato, Niall Shamma, Peter Balm | Co-Executive Producers
—
Asif Ali – Deli Boys
Wally Baram – Overcompensating
Michael Cooper Jr. – Forever
Ernest Kingsley Junior – Washington Black
BEST ENSEMBLE CAST IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
Presented by Natasha Rothwell
Chief of War • Apple TV+
Ensemble Cast including Charlie Brumbly, Luciane Buchanan, Cliff Curtis, Brandon Finn, Moses Goods, Te Ao o Hinepehinga, Benjamin Hoetjes, Siua Ikale’o, Keala Kahuanui-Paleka, Mainei Kinimaka, Kaina Makua, Jason Momoa, Temuera Morrison, Te Kohe Tuhaka, James Udom
SPECIAL HONORS
PRODUCERS AWARD ($25,000 UNRESTRICTED GRANT)
presented by Producers United
Presented by Robby Hoffman
Tony Yang
LUCKY LU & BLUE SUN PALACE
Tony Yang is a Chinese-American producer and Sundance Producers Intensive Fellow based in Los Angeles. A Columbia Creative Producing MFA graduate, he has produced 30+ films which have screened at Cannes, TIFF, Sundance and Venice. His credits include Seagrass (FIPRESCI Prize, TIFF), Bunnylovr (Sundance), Rosemead (Tribeca 2025), Blue Sun Palace (Cannes Critics Week, French Touch Jury Award, NYT Critics Pick) and Lucky Lu (Cannes & TIFF 2025). Variety named him one of its “Top 10 Producers to Watch” in 2025.
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Emma Hannaway
Luca Intili
SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD ($25,000 GRANT)
(The Someone to Watch Award recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision
who has not yet received appropriate recognition.)
Presented by Robby Hoffman
Tatti Ribeiro
Director of Valentina
Tatti Ribeiro is a journalist and filmmaker raised in the Bay Area. She is the founder of franknews, a media organization that creates film, audio, and live programming to give context to a 24/7 news cycle. She is a graduate of the USC School of Cinematic Arts. Valentina is her first feature film.
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Neo Sora – Director of Happyend
Annapurna Sriram – Director of Fucktoys
TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD ($25,000 GRANT)
(The Truer Than Fiction Award is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction
features who has not yet received significant recognition.)
Presented by Robby Hoffman
Rajee Samarasinghe
Your Touch Makes Others Invisible
Rajee Samarasinghe is an award-winning Sri Lankan filmmaker. He holds a BFA (UC San Diego) and MFA (CalArts). His debut feature, Your Touch Makes Others Invisible – supported by Sundance DFP, Berlinale Talents Doc Station, Field of Vision, and True/False PRISM – world-premiered at IFFR 2025. He was named one of Filmmaker Magazine‘s “25 New Faces” (2020), presented a MoMA (Modern Mondays) solo show in 2021, and later received MacDowell (2023), Yaddo (2024) and Guggenheim (2025) fellowships. His work has screened widely, including at IFFR Tiger Shorts, New Directors/New Films, MoMA’s Doc Fortnight, BFI London, FIDMarseille, Oberhausen, Slamdance, SFFILM, Melbourne, Vancouver, BlackStar and more.
—
Tony Benna – Director of André is an Idiot
Brittany Shyne – Director of Seeds
About the Film Independent
In 1981, Gregory Nava and a small band of directors, writers and producers began gathering regularly to share creative ideas and discuss ways to increase resources for independent filmmakers.
The non-profit, member-driven organization Independent Feature Project (IFP)/West soon emerged from these meetings with the mission to cultivate the careers of independent filmmakers, build larger audiences for independent film and champion diversity in the entertainment industry. National recognition quickly followed when the organization took on production of the Spirit Awards in the late 1980s and the LA Film Festival in 2000. In time, IFP/West became Film Independent — a more accurate banner for the spectrum of services and programs the organization had expanded to include.
Today, Film Independent encompasses a broad community of individuals who appreciate and sustain artist-driven filmmaking.
