Nominations were revealed on Wednesday for the 2026 Film Independent Spirit Awards, which will take place in Los Angeles on Sunday, February 15, 2026. Categories include Best Feature, Best First Feature, Best Lead Performance (the Spirit Awards went gender-neutral for the 2023 ceremony), Best Director, the John Cassavetes Award for films made for under $1 million, and more.
Netflix leads the pack with 18 nominations, with A24 behind with 10 nominations. Best Feature nominees are “Peter Hujar’s Day,” “The Plague,” “Sorry, Baby,” “Train Dreams,” an…
Nominations were revealed on Wednesday for the 2026 Film Independent Spirit Awards, which will take place in Los Angeles on Sunday, February 15, 2026. Categories include Best Feature, Best First Feature, Best Lead Performance (the Spirit Awards went gender-neutral for the 2023 ceremony), Best Director, the John Cassavetes Award for films made for under $1 million, and more.
Netflix leads the pack with 18 nominations, with A24 behind with 10 nominations. Best Feature nominees are “Peter Hujar’s Day,” “The Plague,” “Sorry, Baby,” “Train Dreams,” and “Twinless.” Along with “Train Dreams,” Netflix was boosted by TV nominations for “Adolescence” and “Forever.” See the full list of nominees below.
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Best Lead Performance nominees included Oscar contenders Rose Byrne (New York Film Critics Circle Best Actress winner for “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You”) and Joel Edgerton (“Train Dreams”) — plus “The Plague” breakout Everett Blunck, Kathleen Chalfant (“Familiar Touch”), Chang Chen (“Lucky Lu”), Dylan O’Brien (“Twinless”), Keke Palmer (“One of Them Days”), Théodore Pellerin (“Lurker”), Tessa Thompson (“Hedda,” also up for supporting performer Nina Hoss), and Ben Whishaw (“Peter Hujar’s Day,” also up for supporting performer Rebecca Hall).
The 2025 winners list was dominated by “Anora” for Best Feature, Best Lead Performance for Mikey Madison, and Best Director Sean Baker. Those all went on to repeat at the Academy Awards. This year’s Spirit Awards take place a full month before the Academy Awards, which are set for Sunday, March 15, meaning the Film Independent winners have a shot at influencing Oscar voters.
The Spirit Awards announcement comes amid a very busy week for the 2025-2026 awards season, with the Gotham Awards and New York Film Critics Circle bestowing top honors on “One Battle After Another.” To be eligible for a Spirit Award, nominees must have been made for under $30 million, which makes Paul Thomas Anderson’s action movie ineligible here. That movie is bound to sweep many precursor awards, so its exclusion from Spirit Awards contention will open up the field to some true indies.
This year’s Spirit Awards will take place at Hollywood Palladium, a change from the Santa Monica Pier, where the event has been held for years. The Spirit Awards also continue to honor television series, with TV categories added for the 2021 ceremony.
BEST FEATURE
“Peter Hujar’s Day”
“The Plague”
“Sorry, Baby”
“Train Dreams”
“Twinless”
BEST FIRST FEATURE
“Blue Sun Palace”
“Dust Bunny”
“East of Wall”
“Lurker”
“One of Them Days”
JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD
“The Baltimorons”
“Boys Go to Jupiter”
“Eephus”
“Esta Isla (This Island)”
“Familiar Touch”
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
“A Little Prayer”
“Sorry, Baby”
“Sovereign”
“Splitsville”
“Twinless”
BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
“Blue Sun Palace”
“Friendship”
“Lurker”
“One of Them Days”
“Outerlands”
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”
Kayo Martin, “The Plague”
Misha Osherovich, “She’s the He”
SZA, “One of The Days”
Tabatha Zimiga, “East of Wall”
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
“Blue Sun Palace”
“Dust Bunny”
“Peter Hujar’s Day”
“Train Dreams”
“Warfare”
BEST EDITING
“Eephus”
“Good Boy”
“Splitsville”
“The Testament of Ann Lee”
“Warfare”
ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD — Given to one film’s director, casting director, and ensemble cast
“The Long Walk”
BEST DOCUMENTARY
“Come See Me in the Good Light”
“Endless Cookie”
“My Undesirable Friends: Part 1 – Last Air in Moscow”
“The Perfect Neighbor”
“The Tale of Silyan”
BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
“All That’s Left of You”
“On Becoming a Guinea Fowl”
“A Poet”
“The Secret Agent”
“Sirat”
PRODUCERS AWARD
Emma Hannaway
Luca Intili
Tony Yang
SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD
Tatti Ribeiro (“Valentina”)
Neo Sora (“Happyend”)
Annapurna Sriram (“Fucktoys”)
TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD
Tony Benna (“Andre Is an Idiot”)
Rajee Samarasinghe (“Your Touch Makes Others Invisible”)
Brittany Shyne (“Seeds”)
BEST NEW NON-SCRIPTED OR DOCUMENTARY SERIES
“Citizen Nation”
“Hurricane Katrina: Race Against Time”
“Pee-wee as Himself”
“Seen & Heard: The History of Black Television”
“Vow of Silence: The Assassination of Annie Mae”
BEST NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
“Adolescence”
“Common Side Effects”
“Forever”
“Mr Loverman”
“North of North”
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”