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Film Independent announced the nominees for the 41st annual Spirit Awards on December 3, 2025. Peter Hujar’s Day led the film nominations with five; Blue Sun Palace, Lurker, One of Them Days, Sorry, Baby and Train Dreams had four each. On the television side, Adolescence, Forever and Mr Loverman tied for the most nominations, with four apiece. The ceremony was scheduled for February 15, 2026, at the Hollywood Palladium. The complete film and television list follows. Film Independent’s announcement is the source for the categories and nominee names.
Film nominees
Best Feature
The award is given to the producer or producers.
- Peter Hujar’s Day — Jonah Disend, Jordan Drake
- The Plague — Derek Dauchy, Joel Edgerton, Roy Lee, Lucy McKendrick, Steven Schneider, Lizzie Shapiro
- Sorry, Baby — Mark Ceryak, Barry Jenkins, Adele Romanski
- Train Dreams — Michael Heimler, Will Janowitz, Marissa McMahon, Ashley Schlaifer, Teddy Schwarzman
- Twinless — David Permut, James Sweeney
Best First Feature
The award is given to the director and producer or producers.
- Blue Sun Palace — director Constance Tsang; producers Sally Sujin Oh, Eli Raskin, Tony Yang
- Dust Bunny — director and producer Bryan Fuller; producers Basil Iwanyk, Erica Lee
- East of Wall — director and producer Kate Beecroft; producers Shannon Moss, Melanie Ramsayer, Lila Yacoub
- Lurker — director Alex Russell; producers Galen Core, Archie Madekwe, Marc Marrie, Charlie McDowell, Francesco Melzi D’Eril, Duncan Montgomery, Alex Orlovsky, Olmo Schnabel, Jack Selby
- One of Them Days — director Lawrence Lamont; producers Deniese Davis, Poppy Hanks, James Lopez, Issa Rae, Sara Rastogi
John Cassavetes Award
For the best feature made for under $1,000,000; the award is given to the writer, director and producer or producers.
- The Baltimorons — Jay Duplass, Michael Strassner; producers David Bonnett Jr., Drew Langer
- Boys Go to Jupiter — Julian Glander
- Eephus — Carson Lund, Michael Basta, Nate Fisher; producers David Entin, Tyler Taormina
- Esta Isla (This Island) — Cristian Carretero, Lorraine Jones Molina; producer Kisha Tikina Burgos
- Familiar Touch — Sarah Friedland; producers Alexandra Byer, Matthew Thurm
Best Director
- Clint Bentley — Train Dreams
- 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
- Michael Angelo Covino and Kyle Marvin — Splitsville
- Angus MacLachlan — A Little Prayer
- James Sweeney — Twinless
- Christian Swegal — Sovereign
- Eva Victor — Sorry, Baby
Best First Screenplay
- Andrew DeYoung — Friendship
- Elena Oxman — Outerlands
- Alex Russell — Lurker
- Syreeta Singleton — One of Them Days
- Constance Tsang — Blue Sun Palace
Best Lead Performance
- Everett Blunck — The Plague
- Rose Byrne — If I Had Legs I’d Kick You
- 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
- Naomi Ackie — Sorry, Baby
- 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
- Liz Larsen — The Baltimorons
- Misha Osherovich — She’s the He
- Kayo Martin — The Plague
- SZA — One of Them Days
- Tabatha Zimiga — East of Wall
Best Cinematography
- Alex Ashe — Peter Hujar’s Day
- Norm Li — Blue Sun Palace
- David J. Thompson — Warfare
- Adolpho Veloso — Train Dreams
- Nicole Hirsch Whitaker — Dust Bunny
Best Editing
- Ben Leonberg — Good Boy
- Carson Lund — Eephus
- Fin Oates — Warfare
- Sara Shaw — Splitsville
- Sofía Subercaseaux — The Testament of Ann Lee
Robert Altman Award
This award recognizes a film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast.
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Beistle Spirit Award Ribbons, 2 by 8-Inch, Multicolor, 6-Pack
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- The Long Walk — director Francis Lawrence; casting director Rich Delia; ensemble Judy Greer, Mark Hamill, Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, Tut Nyuot, Joshua Odjick, Charlie Plummer, Ben Wang, Garrett Wareing
Best Documentary
The award is given to the director and producer or producers.
- Come See Me in the Good Light — Ryan White; producers Jessica Hargrave, Tig Notaro, Stef Willen
- Endless Cookie — Peter Scriver, Seth Scriver; producers Dan Bekerman, Alex Ordanis, Jason Ryle, Chris Yurkovich
- My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air in Moscow — Julia Loktev
- The Perfect Neighbor — Geeta Gandbhir; producers Sam Bisbee, Nikon Kwantu, Alisa Payne
- The Tale of Silyan — Tamara Kotevska; producers Jean Dakar, Anna Hashmi, Jordanco Petkovski
Best International Film
The award is given to the director.
- 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
- The Secret Agent — Brazil; director Kleber Mendonça Filho
- Sirāt — Spain; director Oliver Laxe
Emerging Filmmaker Awards
Each of the three awards below includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant, according to Film Independent’s announcement.
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Producers Award
- Emma Hannaway
- Luca Intili
- Tony Yang
Someone to Watch Award
- Tatti Ribeiro — director of Valentina
- Neo Sora — director of Happyend
- Annapurna Sriram — director of Fucktoys
Truer Than Fiction Award
- Tony Benna — director of André is an Idiot
- Rajee Samarasinghe — director of Your Touch Makes Others Invisible
- Brittany Shyne — director of Seeds
Television nominees
Best New Non-Scripted or Documentary Series
- Citizen Nation — creator Bret Sigler; executive producers Christopher Buck, Kyra Darnton
- Hurricane Katrina: Race Against Time — executive producers Jonathan Chinn, Simon Chinn, Ryan Coogler, Myles Estey, Ted Skillman, Zinzi Coogler, Sev Ohanian, Peter Nicks, Kalia King, Carolyn Payne, Sean David Johnson; co-executive producer Kelli Buchanan
- Pee-wee as Himself — executive producers 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
- Seen & Heard: The History of Black Television — executive producers Issa Rae, Montrel McKay, John Maggio, Rachel Dretzin, John Ealer, Jonathan Berry, Dave Becky, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller, Sara Rodriguez; co-executive producers Esther Dere, Zachary Herrmann
- Vow of Silence: The Assassination of Annie Mae — executive producers Ezra Edelman, Caroline Waterlow, Amy Kaufman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Riva Marker; producer Yvonne Russo; co-executive producer Mark Becker
Best New Scripted Series
- Adolescence — creators and executive producers Jack Thorne, Stephen Graham; executive producers Philip Barantini, Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Nina Wolarsky, Hannah Walters, Mark Herbert, Emily Feller; co-executive producers Carina Sposato, Niall Shamma, Peter Balm
- Common Side Effects — creators and executive producers Joe Bennett, Steve Hely; executive producers Mike Judge, Greg Daniels, Dustin Davis, James Merrill, Sean Buckelew, Benjy Brooke, Kelly Crews, Suzanna Makkos; co-executive producer Dave King
- Forever — creator and executive producer Mara Brock Akil; executive producers Regina King, Susie Fitzgerald, Shana C. Waterman, Reina King, Anthony Hemingway, Judy Blume, Erika Harrison, Sara E. White; co-executive producer Jerron Horton
- Mr Loverman — executive producers Lennie James, Hong Khaou, Jo McClellan, Faye Ward, Hannah Farrell, Hannah Price
- North of North — creators and executive producers Stacey Aglok MacDonald, Alethea Arnaquq-Baril; executive producers Garry Campbell, Anya Adams, Susan Coyne, Miranda de Pencier; co-executive producers Teresa M. Ho, Michael Goldbach, Kathryn Borel Jr., JP Larocque
Best Lead Performance in a New Scripted Series
- Sydney Chandler — Alien: Earth
- Stephen Graham — Adolescence
- 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
- Ariyon Bakare — Mr Loverman
- Babou Ceesay — Alien: Earth
- Sharon D Clarke — Mr Loverman
- Taylor Dearden — The Pitt
- Erin Doherty — Adolescence
- 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
- Asif Ali — Deli Boys
- Wally Baram — Overcompensating
- Owen Cooper — Adolescence
- Michael Cooper Jr. — Forever
- Ernest Kingsley Junior — Washington Black
Best Ensemble Cast in a New Scripted Series
- Chief of War — 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
How the Spirit Award winners are chosen
Film Independent members vote for winners in most categories. The John Cassavetes, Someone to Watch, Truer Than Fiction and Producers Awards are selected by committees instead. A nomination identifies a contender; it does not predict the result. The 2026 nominee information page describes member voting and screeners for eligible voters; its screener access information is not an announcement of general public availability.
Film Independent said the nominees represented 18 countries, with production budgets ranging from $35,000 to $20 million. It also reported that women made up 41% of nominees and BIPOC nominees 33%. Those are figures published by the organization in 2025. Its published nominating-committee figures were 45% female, 7% nonbinary, 4% transgender, 50% BIPOC, 31% LGBTQ+ and 18% people with disabilities. Film Independent’s announcement provides those statistics.
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Hayes School Spirit Award Certificates, Perfect for Recognizing Outstanding School Spirit, Customizable Award for Students, Full-Color Glossy Finish, 8.5" x 11" - 30 Pack
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