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Updated: The 2026 Film Independent Spirit Awards has concluded, with “Train Dreams” winning three awards including the day’s top honor, Best Feature. Rose Byrne won Best Lead Performance for her Oscar-nominated turn in “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You,” Alex Russell’s “Lurker” picked up two awards including Best First Feature, and yes, “Adolescence” won even more awards after an Emmys-and-you-name-it cleanup over the last few months, today with a sweep across all the Netflix series’ nominated TV categories.
All the winners are below.
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Earlier: The Independent Spirit Awards look a little different this year, with the iconic Santa Monica beach tent temporarily giving way to an indoor show at the Hollywood Palladium due to Los Angeles’ ongoing preparations for the 2028 Summer Olympics. But while the setting has changed, the award show’s core mission of celebrating the best independent films (and TV shows that embody the spirit of independent filmmaking) remains the same.
This year’s class of nominees is headlined by some of the biggest indies of 2025, including Sundance hits “Train Dreams,” “Sorry, Baby,” “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You,” “Twinless,” and “Peter Hujar’s Day.” A handful of films, like “Train Dreams” and “The Secret Agent,” a Spirit win could be a step towards a big night at the Oscars. But for most of the field, the Spirits and the validation they provide from the independent film community are now an end in and of themselves.
The 41st Independent Spirit Awards can be streamed live on the IMDb and Film Independent YouTube channels beginning at 5 p.m. ET/2 p.m. PT on Sunday, February 15. IndieWire is partnering with Lavazza to bring you coverage from the blue carpet, so check out IndieWire and Lavazza’s Instagram accounts for all of our conversations with nominees and presenters. This year’s show is hosted by Ego Nwodim.
BEST FEATURE
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“Peter Hujar’s Day”
“The Plague”
“Sorry, Baby”
“Train Dreams” WINNER
“Twinless”
BEST LEAD PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
Sydney Chandler, “Alien: Earth”
Stephen Graham, “Adolescence” WINNER
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 LEAD PERFORMANCE
Everett Blunck, “The Plague”
Rose Byrne, “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” WINNER
Kathleen Chalfant, “Familiar Touch”
Chang Chen, “Lucky Lu”
Joel Edgerton, “Train Dreams”
Dylan O’Brien, “Twinless”
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Keke Palmer, “One of Them Days”
Théodore Pellerin, “Lurker”
Tessa Thompson, “Hedda”
Ben Whishaw, “Peter Hujar’s Day”
BEST DIRECTOR
Clint Bentley, “Train Dreams” WINNER
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”
PRODUCERS AWARD
Emma Hannaway
Luca Intili
Tony Yang WINNER
BEST FIRST FEATURE
“Blue Sun Palace”
“Dust Bunny”
“East of Wall”
“Lurker” WINNER
“One of Them Days”
ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD — Given to one film’s director, casting director, and ensemble cast
“The Long Walk” WINNER
TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD
Tony Benna (“Andre Is an Idiot”)
Rajee Samarasinghe (“Your Touch Makes Others Invisible”) WINNER
Brittany Shyne (“Seeds”)
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BEST BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE
Liz Larsen, “The Baltimorons”
Kayo Martin, “The Plague” WINNER
Misha Osherovich, “She’s the He”
SZA, “One of The Days”
Tabatha Zimiga, “East of Wall”
SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD
Tatti Ribeiro (“Valentina”) WINNER
Neo Sora (“Happyend”)
Annapurna Sriram (“Fucktoys”)
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
“Blue Sun Palace”
“Dust Bunny”
“Peter Hujar’s Day”
“Train Dreams” WINNER
“Warfare”
BEST EDITING
“Eephus”
“Good Boy”
“Splitsville”
“The Testament of Ann Lee” WINNER
“Warfare”
JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD
“The Baltimorons”
“Boys Go to Jupiter”
“Eephus”
“Esta Isla (This Island)” WINNER
“Familiar Touch”
BEST NEW NON-SCRIPTED OR DOCUMENTARY SERIES
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“Citizen Nation”
“Hurricane Katrina: Race Against Time”
“Pee-wee as Himself” WINNER
“Seen & Heard: The History of Black Television”
“Vow of Silence: The Assassination of Annie Mae”
BEST NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
“Adolescence” WINNER
“Common Side Effects”
“Forever”
“Mr Loverman”
“North of North”
BEST ENSEMBLE CAST IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
“Chief of War” WINNER
BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE
Naomi Ackie, “Sorry, Baby” WINNER
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”
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Haipeng Xu, “Blue Sun Palace”
BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
“Blue Sun Palace”
“Friendship”
“Lurker” WINNER
“One of Them Days”
“Outerlands”
BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
“All That’s Left of You”
“On Becoming a Guinea Fowl”
“A Poet”
“The Secret Agent” WINNER
“Sirat”
BEST BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
Asif Ali, “Deli Boys”
Wally Baram, “Overcompensating”
Owen Cooper, “Adolescence” WINNER
Michael Cooper Jr., “Forever”
Ernest Kingsley Junior, “Washington Black”
BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
Ariyon Bakare, “Mr Loverman”
Babou Ceesay, “Alien: Earth”
Sharon D. Clarke, “Mr Loverman”
Taylor Dearden, “The Pitt”
Erin Doherty, “Adolescence” WINNER
Stephen McKinley Henderson, “A Man on the Inside”
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Poorna Jagannathan, “Deli Boys”
Xosha Roquemore, “Forever”
Jenny Slate, “Dying for Sex”
Ben Whishaw, “Black Doves”
BEST DOCUMENTARY
“Come See Me in the Good Light”
“Endless Cookie”
“My Undesirable Friends: Part 1 – Last Air in Moscow”
“The Perfect Neighbor” WINNER
“The Tale of Silyan”
BEST SCREENPLAY
“A Little Prayer”
“Sorry, Baby” WINNER
“Sovereign”
“Splitsville”
“Twinless”
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