41st Independent Spirit Awards Led By ‘Train Dreams’

The 41st Independent Spirit Awards have come to a close! Train Dreams led the way with three prizes, taking Best Cinematography, Best Director for Clint Bentley, and Best Feature, while Rose Byrne won Best Lead Performance for her work in If I Had Legs I’d Kick You. All of the winners can be seen below.

Here are the results from the Spirit Awards, via press release:

Film Independent, the nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering independence and inclusivity in visual storytelling, handed out top honors today at the 2026 Film Independent Spirit Awards. Hosted by acclaimed actress and comedian Ego Nwodim, the awards ceremony was broadcast live on Film Independent’s and IMDb’s YouTube channels. The Spirit Awards are Film Independent’s largest annual celebration, making year-round programming for filmmakers and film loving audiences possible while amplifying the voices of independent storytellers and celebrating their diversity, originality and uniqueness of vision.

 

The 2026 ceremony, the 41st in Film Independent’s history, continued the organization’s storied tradition of celebrating the best of film and television and supporting independent artists.

For this year’s awards, Train Dreams led the way in the film categories with three wins, including Best Feature, Best Director for Clint Bentley and Best Cinematography for Adolpho Veloso. Among the other films and artists honored, Rose Byrne won Best Lead Performance for If I Had Legs I’d Kick You; Sorry, Baby won Best Supporting Performance for Naomi Ackie and Best Screenplay for Eva Victor; Lurker won Best First Feature and Best First Screenplay for Alex Russell; Kayo Martin won Best Breakthrough Performance for The Plague; The Secret Agent won Best International Film; The Perfect Neighbor won Best Documentary; and Sofía Subercaseaux won Best Editing for The Testament of Ann Lee.

In the television categories, this year’s major winner was Adolescence, which won four awards, the most for any television show since the Spirit Awards began honoring the medium in 2021. Those awards included Best New Scripted Series, Best Lead Performance in a New Scripted Series for Stephen Graham, Best Supporting Performance in a New Scripted Series for Erin Doherty and Best Breakthrough Performance in a New Scripted Series for Owen Cooper. The other television winners included Pee-wee as Himself, which won Best New Non-Scripted or Documentary Series, and Chief of War, which won Best Ensemble Cast in a New Scripted Series.

The 18th annual Robert Altman Award, which was created in 2008 in honor of legendary film director Robert Altman, who was known for creating extraordinary ensemble casts, was awarded to The Long Walk director Francis Lawrence, alongside casting director Rich Delia, as well as ensemble cast members Judy Greer, Mark Hamill, Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, Tut Nyuot, Joshua Odjick, Charlie Plummer, Ben Wang and Garrett Wareing.

Esta Isla (This Island) was honored with the John Cassavetes Award, given to the best feature made for under $1,000,000. Also celebrated were the previously announced honors including Tatti Ribeiro of Valentina with the Someone to Watch Award, recognizing a filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition; Rajee Samarasinghe of Your Touch Makes Others Invisible with the Truer Than Fiction Award, presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has yet to receive significant recognition; and Tony Yangwith the Producers Award, sponsored by Producers United, honoring emerging producers who demonstrate the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce quality independent films with limited resources.

 

The winners of the Film Independent Spirit Awards are voted on by Film Independent Members. Membership is open to the public.

 

Film Independent Spirit Awards are supported by Premier Sponsor Lavazza Coffee, Principal Sponsor IMDbPro and Official Sponsor FIJI Water, with additional support from PEPSI. Easterseals Disability Services is the accessibility partner. The London West Hollywood and W Hollywood are the Official Hotels. Pentagram is the Visual Branding Partner. Getty Images is the Official Photographer. Vision Media is the exclusive screening partner. eTech Rentals and Town and Country Event Rentals are Official Providers.

 

 

The following is a complete list of the winners:

 

FILM CATEGORIES

 

Best Feature

Train Dreams (Netflix)

Producers: Michael Heimler, Will Janowitz, Marissa McMahon, Ashley Schlaifer, Teddy Schwarzman

 

Best Director

Clint Bentley, Train Dreams (Netflix)

 

Best Screenplay

Eva Victor, Sorry, Baby (A24)

 

Best First Feature

Lurker (MUBI)

Director: Alex Russell

Producers: Galen Core, Archie Madekwe, Marc Marrie, Charlie McDowell, Francesco Melzi D’Eril, Duncan Montgomery, Alex Orlovsky, Olmo Schnabel, Jack Selby

 

Best First Screenplay

Alex Russell, Lurker (MUBI)

 

John Cassavetes Award

(for best feature made under $1,000,000)

Esta Isla (This Island)

Writers/Directors/Producers: Cristian Carretero, Lorraine Jones Molina

Writer: Kisha Tikina Burgos

 

Best Breakthrough Performance

Kayo Martin, The Plague (Independent Film Company)

 

Best Supporting Performance

Naomi Ackie, Sorry, Baby (A24)

 

Best Lead Performance

Rose Byrne, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You (A24)

 

Robert Altman Award

The Long Walk (Lionsgate)

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

 

Best Cinematography

Adolpho Veloso, Train Dreams (Netflix)

 

Best Editing

Sofía Subercaseaux, The Testament of Ann Lee (Searchlight Pictures)

 

Best International Film

The Secret Agent (NEON)

Director: Kleber Mendonça Filho

 

Best Documentary

The Perfect Neighbor (Netflix)

Director/Producer: Geeta Gandbhir

Producers: Sam Bisbee, Nikon Kwantu, Alisa Payne

 

Someone to Watch

Tatti Ribeiro, Valentina

 

Truer Than Fiction

Rajee Samarasinghe, Your Touch Makes Others Invisible

 

Producers Award presented by Producers United

Tony Yang

 

TELEVISION CATEGORIES

 

Best New Scripted Series

Adolescence (Netflix)

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

 

Best New Non-Scripted or Documentary Series

Pee-wee as Himself (HBO Max)

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

 

Best Breakthrough Performance in a New Scripted Series

Owen Cooper, Adolescence (Netflix)

 

Best Supporting Performance in a New Scripted Series

Erin Doherty, Adolescence (Netflix)

 

Best Lead Performance in a New Scripted Series

Stephen Graham, Adolescence (Netflix)

 

Best Ensemble Cast in a New Scripted Series

Chief of War (Apple TV)

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

 

 

2026 FILM INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARD WINNERS

BY DISTRIBUTOR

 

DISTRIBUTOR

TITLE

#

A24

If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, Best Lead Performance

Sorry, Baby, Best Screenplay

Sorry, Baby, Best Supporting Performance

3

Apple TV

Chief of War, Best Ensemble Cast in a New Scripted Series

1

HBO Max

Pee-wee as Himself, Best New Non-Scripted or Documentary Series

1

Independent Film Company

The Plague, Best Breakthrough Performance

1

Lionsgate

The Long Walk, Robert Altman Award

1

MUBI

Lurker, Best First Feature

Lurker, Best First Screenplay

2

NEON

The Secret Agent, Best International

1

Netflix

Adolescence, Best New Scripted Series

Adolescence, Best Lead Performance in a New Scripted Series

Adolescence, Best Supporting Performance in a New Scripted Series

Adolescence, Best Breakthrough Performance in a New Scripted Series

The Perfect Neighbor, Best Documentary

Train Dreams, Best Feature

Train Dreams, Best Director

Train Dreams, Best Cinematography

8

Searchlight Pictures

The Testament of Ann Lee, Best Editing

1

Nominees without distribution

Esta Isla (This Island), John Cassavetes Award

Lucky Lu, Producers Award

Valentina, Someone to Watch Award

Your Touch Makes Others Invisible, Truer Than Fiction Award

4