The 40th annual Independent Spirit Awards took place in Santa Monica, with Aidy Bryant returning as host for the second consecutive year.
The big winner of the night was Anora, which claimed the Best Feature award, while Sean Baker won Best Director, and Mikey Madison earned Best Lead Performance. Baby Reindeer also had a standout night, securing three acting awards, including Best Lead Performance for Richard Gadd, Best Supporting Performance for Nava Mau, and Best Breakthrough Performance for Jessica Gunning. Meanwhile, Shōgun was named Best New Scripted Series.
In the debut film category, Sean Wang’s Dìdi took home Best First Feature and Best First Screenplay, cementing its place as a breakout success.
Complete Winners List
Best Feature
🏆 Anora (Winner)
- I Saw the TV Glow
- Nickel Boys
- Sing Sing
- The Substance
Best First Feature
🏆 Dìdi (Winner)
- In the Summers
- Janet Planet
- The Piano Lesson
- Problemista
John Cassavetes Award (For films made under $1 million)
🏆 Girls Will Be Girls (Winner)
- Big Boys
- Ghostlight
- Jazzy
- The People’s Joker
Best Director
🏆 Sean Baker — Anora (Winner)
- Ali Abbasi — The Apprentice
- Brady Corbet — The Brutalist
- Alonso Ruizpalacios — La Cocina
- Jane Schoenbrun — I Saw the TV Glow
Best Screenplay
🏆 Jesse Eisenberg — A Real Pain (Winner)
- Scott Beck, Bryan Woods — Heretic
- Megan Park — My Old Ass
- Aaron Schimberg — A Different Man
- Jane Schoenbrun — I Saw the TV Glow
Best First Screenplay
🏆 Sean Wang — Dìdi (Winner)
- Joanna Arnow — The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed
- Annie Baker — Janet Planet
- India Donaldson — Good One
- Julio Torres — Problemista
Best Lead Performance in a Film
🏆 Mikey Madison — Anora (Winner)
- Amy Adams — Nightbitch
- Ryan Destiny — The Fire Inside
- Colman Domingo — Sing Sing
- Keith Kupferer — Ghostlight
- Demi Moore — The Substance
- Hunter Schafer — Cuckoo
- Justice Smith — I Saw the TV Glow
- June Squibb — Thelma
- Sebastian Stan — The Apprentice
Best Supporting Performance in a Film
🏆 Kieran Culkin — A Real Pain (Winner)
- Yura Borisov — Anora
- Joan Chen — Dìdi
- Danielle Deadwyler — The Piano Lesson
- Carol Kane — Between the Temples
- Karren Karagulian — Anora
- Kani Kusruti — Girls Will Be Girls
- Jack Haven — I Saw the TV Glow
- Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin — Sing Sing
- Adam Pearson — A Different Man
Best Breakthrough Performance in a Film
🏆 Maisy Stella — My Old Ass (Winner)
- Isaac Krasner — Big Boys
- Katy O’Brian — Love Lies Bleeding
- Mason Alexander Park — National Anthem
- René Pérez Joglar — In the Summers
Best Cinematography
🏆 Jomo Fray — Nickel Boys (Winner)
- Dinh Duy Hung — Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell
- Maria von Hausswolff — Janet Planet
- Juan Pablo Ramírez — La Cocina
- Rina Yan — The Fire Inside
Best Editing
🏆 Hansjörg Weissbrich — September 5 (Winner)
- Laura Colwell, Vanara Taing — Jazzy
- Olivier Bugge Coutté, Olivia Neergaard-Holm — The Apprentice
- Anne McCabe — Nightbitch
- Arielle Zakowski — Dìdi
Robert Altman Award (For director, casting director, and ensemble cast)
🏆 His Three Daughters (Winner)
Best Documentary
🏆 No Other Land (Winner)
- Gaucho Gaucho
- Hummingbirds
- Patrice: The Movie
- Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat
Best International Film
🏆 Flow (Winner)
- All We Imagine as Light
- Black Dog
- Green Border
- Hard Truths
Producers Award
🏆 Sarah Winshall — I Saw the TV Glow (Winner)
- Alex Coco
- Zoë Worth
Someone to Watch Award
🏆 Sarah Friedland — Familiar Touch (Winner)
- Nicholas Colia — Griffin in Summer
- Pham Thien An — Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell
Truer Than Fiction Award (For emerging documentary filmmakers)
🏆 Rachel Elizabeth Seed — A Photographic Memory (Winner)
- Julian Brave NoiseCat, Emily Kassie — Sugarcane
- Carla Gutiérrez — Frida
Television Categories
Best New Non-Scripted or Documentary Series
🏆 Hollywood Black (Winner)
- Erased: WW2’s Heroes of Color
- Photographer
- Ren Faire
- Social Studies
Best New Scripted Series
🏆 Shōgun (Winner)
- Baby Reindeer
- Diarra From Detroit
- English Teacher
- Fantasmas
Best Lead Performance in a New Scripted Series
🏆 Richard Gadd — Baby Reindeer (Winner)
- Brian Jordan Alvarez — English Teacher
- Lily Gladstone — Under the Bridge
- Kathryn Hahn — Agatha All Along
- Cristin Milioti — The Penguin
- Julianne Moore — Mary & George
- Hiroyuki Sanada — Shōgun
- Anna Sawai — Shōgun
- Andrew Scott — Ripley
- Julio Torres — Fantasmas
Best Supporting Performance in a New Scripted Series
🏆 Nava Mau — Baby Reindeer (Winner)
- Tadanobu Asano — Shōgun
- Enrico Colantoni — English Teacher
- Betty Gilpin — Three Women
- Chloe Guidry — Under the Bridge
- Moeka Hoshi — Shōgun
- Stephanie Koenig — English Teacher
- Patti LuPone — Agatha All Along
- Ruth Negga — Presumed Innocent
- Brian Tee — Expats
Best Breakthrough Performance in a New Scripted Series
🏆 Jessica Gunning — Baby Reindeer (Winner)
- Diarra Kilpatrick — Diarra From Detroit
- Joe Locke — Agatha All Along
- Megan Stott — Penelope
- Hoa Xuande — The Sympathizer
Best Ensemble Cast in a New Scripted Series
🏆 How to Die Alone (Winner)
With Anora leading the night, this year’s Independent Spirit Awards celebrated a mix of bold storytelling, fresh talent, and innovative filmmaking.