Last night, the Film Independent Spirit Awards were held in Los Angeles, celebrating the best indie cinema from 2025. It turned out to be a huge night for a dark horse Oscar nominee, Train Dreams, which not only won Best Feature, but Best Director for Clint Bentley and Best Cinematography for Adolpho Veloso.
The Awards’ gender-neutral acting categories led to the consensus that Rose Byrne gave the best lead performance of the year for If I Had Legs I’d Kick You. Best Supporting Performance went to Naomi Ackie for her role in Sorry, Baby. That film’s star, director, and writer Eva Victor won the award for Best Screenplay.
Best First Feature and Best First Screenplay went to Alex Russell for the criminally underseen thriller, Lurker. Best Breakthrough Performance went to Kayo Martin for IFC Films horror, The Plague.
Best Documentary went to The Perfect Neighbor, about the shooting death of Ajike Owens. The Secret Agent, another film on the Oscars Best Picture shortlist, won for Best International Feature.
The full list of nominees and winners is below!
Best Feature
Peter Hujar’s Day
Producers: Jonah Disend, Jordan Drake
The Plague
Producers: Derek Dauchy, Joel Edgerton, Roy Lee, Lucy McKendrick, Steven Schneider, Lizzie Shapiro
Sorry, Baby
Producers: Mark Ceryak, Barry Jenkins, Adele Romanski
Train Dreams (WINNER)
Producers: Michael Heimler, Will Janowitz, Marissa McMahon, Ashley Schlaifer, Teddy Schwarzman
Twinless
Producers: David Permut, James Sweeney
Best First Feature
(Award given to director and producer)
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
Lurker (WINNER)
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 – Given to the best feature made for under $1,000,000. (Award given to the writer, director, and producer)
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
Esta Isla (This Island) (WINNER)
Directors/Writers/Producers: Cristian Carretero, Lorraine Jones Molina
Writer: Kisha Tikina Burgos
Familiar Touch
Director/Writer/Producer: Sarah Friedland
Producers: Alexandra Byer, Matthew Thurm
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
BEST SCREENPLAY
Michael Angelo Covino, Kyle Marvin, Splitsville
Angus MacLachlan, A Little Prayer
James Sweeney, Twinless
Christian Swegal, Sovereign
Eva Victor, Sorry, Baby (WINNER)
BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Andrew DeYoung, Friendship
Elena Oxman, Outerlands
Alex Russell, Lurker (WINNER)
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 (WINNER)
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 (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
Haipeng Xu, Blue Sun Palace
BEST BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE
Liz Larsen, The Baltimorons
Misha Osherovich, She’s the He
Kayo Martin, The Plague (WINNER)
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 (WINNER)
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 (WINNER)
ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD (Award given to one film’s director, casting directo,r and ensemble cast)
The Long Walk (WINNER)
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 DOCUMENTARY (Award given to the director and producer)
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 Perfect Neighbor (WINNER)
Director/Producer: Geeta Gandbhir
Producers: Sam Bisbee, Nikon Kwantu, Alisa Payne
The Tale of Silyan
Director/Producer: Tamara Kotevska
Producers: Jean Dakar, Anna Hashmi, Jordanco Petkovski
BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM (Award 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 (WINNER)
Brazil
Director: Kleber Mendonça Filho
Sirāt
Spain
Director: Oliver Laxe
