The 41st Independent Spirit Awards celebrated the best in indie movies and TV shows. Former “Saturday Night Live” cast member Ego Nwodim hosted the show, which took place Sunday night at the Hollywood Palladium.
Australian star Rose Byrne‘s winning streak continues while “Train Dreams”, starring Joel Edgerton, won Best Feature.
Check out the 2026 nominees and winners below.
FILM
Best Feature
“Train Dreams”
Producers: Michael Heimler, Will Janowitz, Marissa McMahon, Ashley Schlaifer, Teddy Schwarzman
“Peter Hujar’s Day”
Producers: Jonah Disend, Jordan Drake
“The Plague”
Producers: Derek Dauchy, Joel Edgerton, Roy Lee, Lucy McKendrick, Steven Schneider, Lizzie Shapiro
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“Sorry, Baby”
Producers: Mark Ceryak, Barry Jenkins, Adele Romanski
“Twinless”
Producers: David Permut, James Sweeney
Best Lead Performance
Rose Byrne, “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You”
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 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”
Producers Award – Emerging Filmmaker Awards
Tony Yang
Emma Hannaway
Luca Intili
Best First Feature
“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
“Blue Sun Palace”
Director: Constance Tsang
Producers: Sally Sujin Oh, Eli Raskin, Tony Yang
“Dust Bunny”
Director/Producer: Bryan Fuller
Producers: Basil Iwanyk, Erica Lee
“East of Wall”
Director/Producer: Kate Beecroft
Producers: Shannon Moss, Melanie Ramsayer, Lila Yacoub
“One of Them Days”
Director: Lawrence Lamont
Producers: Deniese Davis, Poppy Hanks, James Lopez, Issa Rae, Sara Rastogi
Truer Than Fiction Award – Emerging Filmmaker Awards
Rajee Samarasinghe, director of “Your Touch Makes Others Invisible”
Tony Benna, director of “André Is an Idiot”
Brittany Shyne, director of “Seeds”
Best Breakthrough Performance
Kayo Martin, “The Plague”
Liz Larsen, “The Baltimorons”
Misha Osherovich, “She’s the He”
SZA, “One of Them Days”
Tabatha Zimiga, “East of Wall”
Someone to Watch Award – Emerging Filmmaker Awards
Tatti Ribeiro, director of “Valentina”
Neo Sora, director of “Happyend”
Annapurna Sriram, director of “Fucktoys”
Best Cinematography
Adolpho Veloso, “Train Dreams”
Norm Li, “Blue Sun Palace”
Nicole Hirsch Whitaker, “Dust Bunny”
Alex Ashe, “Peter Hujar’s Day”
David J. Thompson, “Warfare”
Best Editing
Sofía Subercaseaux, “The Testament of Ann Lee”
Carson Lund, “Eephus”
Ben Leonberg, “Good Boy”
Sara Shaw, “Splitsville”
Fin Oates, “Warfare”
John Cassavetes Award
“Esta Isla (This Island)”
Directors/Writers/Producers: Cristian Carretero, Lorraine Jones Molina
Writer: Kisha Tikina Burgos
“The Baltimorons”
Director/Writer/Producer: Jay Duplass
Writer/Producer: Michael Strassner
Producers: David Bonnett Jr., Drew Langer
“Boys Go to Jupiter”
Director/Writer: Julian Glander
“Eephus”
Director/Writer/Producer: Carson Lund
Writer/Producer: Michael Basta
Writer: Nate Fisher
Producers: David Entin, Tyler Taormina
“Familiar Touch”
Directors/Writers/Producer: Sarah Friedland
Producers: Alexandra Byer, Matthew Thurm
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 First Screenplay
Alex Russell, “Lurker”
Constance Tsang, “Blue Sun Palace”
Andrew DeYoung, “Friendship”
Syreeta Singleton, “One of Them Days”
Elena Oxman, “Outerlands”
Best International Film
“The Secret Agent”
Brazil
Director: Kleber Mendonça Filho
“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
“Sirat”
Spain
Director: Oliver Laxe
Best Documentary
“The Perfect Neighbor”
Director/Producer: Geeta Gandbhir
Producers: Sam Bisbee, Nikon Kwantu, Alisa Payne
“Come See Me in the Good Light”
Director/Producer: Ryan White
Producers: Jessica Hargrave, Tig Notaro, Stef Willen
“Endless Cookie”
Director: Peter Scriver
Director/Producer: Seth Scriver
Producers: Dan Bekerman, Alex Ordanis, Jason Ryle, Chris Yurkovich
“My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air in Moscow”
Director/Producer: Julia Loktev
“The Tale of Silyan”
Director/Producer: Tamara Kotevska
Producers: Jean Dakar, Anna Hashmi, Jordanco Petkovski
Best Screenplay
Eva Victor, “Sorry, Baby”
Michael Angelo Covino, Kyle Marvin, “Splitsville”
Angus MacLachlan, “A Little Prayer”
James Sweeney, “Twinless”
Christian Swegal, “Sovereign”
Robert Altman Award
“The Long Walk”
Director: Francis Lawrence
Casting Director: Rich Delia
Ensemble Cast: Judy Greer, Mark Hamill, Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, Tut Nyuot, Joshua Odjick, Charlie Plummer, Ben Wang, Garrett Wareing
TELEVISION
Best Lead Performance in a New Scripted Series
Stephen Graham, “Adolescence”
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 New Non-Scripted or Documentary Series
“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
“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
“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
Co-Executive Producer: Mark Becker
Best New Scripted Series
“Adolescence”
Creators/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/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/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/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 Breakthrough Performance in a New Scripted Series
Owen Cooper, “Adolescence”
Asif Ali, “Deli Boys”
Wally Baram, “Overcompensating”
Michael Cooper Jr., “Forever”
Ernest Kingsley Junior, “Washington Black”
Best Supporting Performance in a New Scripted Series
Erin Doherty, “Adolescence”
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 Ensemble Cast in a New Scripted Series
“Chief of War”
Ensemble Cast: 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
From Variety US