Who Won the 2025 Indie Spirit Awards?

Independent film is alive and well in Hollywood. Some of the year’s best movies were made as indies, and some of the hidden gems were nominated for Indie Spirit Awards.

I love the Spirit Awards; it’s a dream to go to them someday. There’s an electricity in the air to be around so many people who love cinema and who have dedicated their lives to making things, no matter the budget.

This year was no exception. There were a lot of surprise winners across film and TV, but I won’t spoil them here. Scroll down to learn more!

Let’s dive in…

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The 2025 Indie Spirit Award Winners

Best Feature

Anora (WINNER)
Producers: Sean Baker, Alex Coco, Samantha Quan

I Saw the TV Glow
Producers: Ali Herting, Luca Intili, Dave McCary, Emma Stone, Sarah Winshall

Nickel Boys
Producers: Joslyn Barnes, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, David Levine

Sing Sing
Producers: Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar, Monique Walton

The Substance
Producers: Tim Bevan, Coralie Fargeat, Eric Fellner

Best First Feature

Dìdi (WINNER)

Director/Producer: Sean Wang
Producers: Valerie Bush, Carlos López Estrada, Josh Peters

In the Summers
Director: Alessandra Lacorazza Samudio
Producers: Janek Ambros, Lynette Coll, Alexander Dinelaris, Cynthia Fernandez De La Cruz, Cristóbal Güell, Sergio Alberto Lira, Rob Quadrino, Jan Suter, Daniel Tantalean, Nando Vila, Slava Vladimirov, Stephanie Yankwitt

Janet Planet
Director/Producer: Annie Baker
Producers: Andrew Goldman, Dan Janvey, Derrick Tseng

The Piano Lesson
Director: Malcolm Washington
Producers: Todd Black, Denzel Washington

Problemista
Director/Producer: Julio Torres
Producers: Ali Herting, Dave McCary, Emma Stone

John Cassavetes Award

Given to the best feature made for under $1,000,000Big Boys

Writer/Director/Producer: Corey Sherman
Producer: Allison Tate

Ghostlight
Writer/Director: Kelly O’Sullivan
Director/Producer: Alex Thompson
Producers: Pierce Cravens, Ian Keiser, Chelsea Krant, Eddie Linker, Alex Wilson

Girls Will Be Girls (WINNER)
Writer/Director/Producer: Shuchi Talati
Producers: Richa Chadha, Claire Chassagne

Jazzy
Writer/Director/Producer: Morrisa Maltz
Writer/Producer: Lainey Shangreaux
Writers: Andrew Hajek, Vanara Taing
Producers: Miranda Bailey, Tommy Heitkamp, John Way, Natalie Whalen, Elliott Whitton

The People’s Joker
Writer/Director: Vera Drew
Writer: Bri LeRose
Producer: Joey Lyons

Best Director

• Ali Abbasi – The Apprentice
• Sean Baker (WINNER) – Anora
• Brady Corbet –The Brutalist
• Alonso Ruizpalacios – La Cocina
• Jane Schoenbrun – I Saw the TV Glow

Best Screenplay

• Scott Beck, Bryan Woods – Heretic
• Jesse Eisenberg (WINNER) – A Real Pain
• Megan Park – My Old Ass
• Aaron Schimberg – A Different Man
• Jane Schoenbrun – I Saw the TV Glow

Best First Screenplay

• Joanna Arnow – The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed
• Annie Baker – Janet Planet
• India Donaldson – Good One
• Julio Torres – Problemista
• Sean Wang (WINNER) – Dìdi

Best Lead Performance

• Amy Adams – Nightbitch
• Ryan Destiny – The Fire Inside
• Colman Domingo – Sing Sing
• Keith Kupferer – Ghostlight
• Mikey Madison (WINNER) – Anora
• Demi Moore –The Substance
• Hunter Schafer – Cuckoo
• Justice Smith – I Saw the TV Glow
• June Squibb – Thelma
• Sebastian Stan – The Apprentice

Best Supporting Performance

• Yura Borisov – Anora
• Joan Chen – Dìdi
• Kieran Culkin (WINNER) – A Real Pain
• Danielle Deadwyler – The Piano Lesson
• Carol Kane – Between the Temples
• Karren Karagulian – Anora
• Kani Kusruti – Girls Will Be Girls
• Brigette Lundy-Paine – I Saw the TV Glow
• Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin – Sing Sing
• Adam Pearson – A Different Man

Best Breakthrough Performance

• Isaac Krasner – Big Boys
• Katy O’Brian – Love Lies Bleeding
• Mason Alexander Park – National Anthem
• René Pérez Joglar – In the Summers
• Maisy Stella (WINNER) – My Old Ass

Best Cinematography

• Dinh Duy Hung – Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell
• Jomo Fray (WINNER) – Nickel Boys
• Maria von Hausswolff – Janet Planet
• Juan Pablo Ramírez – La Cocina
• Rina Yang – The Fire Inside

Best Editing

• Laura Colwell, Vanara Taing – Jazzy
• Olivier Bugge Coutté, Olivia Neergaard-Holm – The Apprentice
• Anne McCabe – Nightbitch
• Hansjörg Weissbrich (WINNER) – September 5
• Arielle Zakowski – Dìdi

Robert Altman Award

His Three Daughters (WINNER)

Director: Azazel Jacobs
Casting Director: Nicole Arbusto
Ensemble Cast: Jovan Adepo, Jasmine Bracey, Carrie Coon, Jose Febus, Rudy Galvan, Natasha Lyonne, Elizabeth Olsen, Randy Ramos Jr., Jay O. Sanders

Best Documentary

Gaucho Gaucho
Directors/Producers: Michael Dweck, Gregory Kershaw
Producers: Christos Konstantakopoulos, Cameron O’Reilly, Matthew Perniciaro

Hummingbirds
Directors: Silvia Del Carmen Castaños, Estefanía “Beba” Contreras
Co-Directors/Producers: Miguel Drake-McLaughlin, Diane Ng, Ana Rodriguez-Falco, Jillian Schlesinger
Producers: Leslie Benavides, Rivkah Beth Medow

No Other Land (WINNER)
Directors/Producers: Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Rachel Szor
Producers: Fabien Greenberg, Bård Kjøge Rønning

Patrice: The Movie
Director: Ted Passon
Producers: Kyla Harris, Innbo Shim, Emily Spivack

Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat
Director: Johan Grimonprez
Producers: Rémi Grellety, Daan Milius

Best International Film

All We Imagine as Light
France, India, Netherlands, Luxembourg
Director: Payal Kapadia

Black Dog
China
Director: Guan Hu

Flow (WINNER)
Latvia, France, Belgium
Director: Gints Zilbalodis

Green Border
Poland, France, Czech Republic, Belgium
Director: Agnieszka Holland

Hard Truths
United Kingdom
Director: Mike Leigh

Producers Award

The Producers Award, presented by Bulleit Frontier Whiskey, now in its 28th year, honors emerging producers who, despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity, and vision required to produce quality independent films.

• Alex Coco
• Sarah Winshall (WINNER)
• Zoë Worth

Someone to Watch Award

The Someone to Watch Award, now in its 31st year, recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition.

• Nicholas Colia – Director of Griffin in Summer
• Sarah Friedland (WINNER) – Director of Familiar Touch
• Pham Thien An – Director of Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell

Truer Than Fiction Award

The Truer Than Fiction Award, now in its 30th year, is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition.

• Julian Brave NoiseCat, Emily Kassie – Directors of Sugarcane
• Carla Gutiérrez – Director of Frida
• Rachel Elizabeth Seed (WINNER) – Director of A Photographic Memory

Best New Nonscripted or Documentary Series

Erased: WW2’s Heroes of Color
Executive Producers: Idris Elba, Johanna Woolford Gibbon, Jamilla Dumbuya, Jos Cushing, Khaled Gad, Matt Robins, Chris Muckle, Sean David Johnson, Simon Raikes
Co-Executive Producer: Annabel Hobley

Hollywood Black (WINNER)
Executive Producers: Shayla Harris, Dave Sirulnick, Stacey Reiss, Jon Kamen, Justin Simien, Kyle Laursen, Forest Whitaker, Nina Yang Bongiovi, Jeffrey Schwarz, Amy Goodman Kass, Michael Wright, Jill Burkhart
Co-Executive Producers: David C. Brown, Laurens Grant

Photographer
Executive Producers: Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin, Pagan Harleman, Betsy Forhan
Co-Executive Producers: Anna Barnes, Brent Kunkle

Ren Faire
Executive Producers: Ronald Bronstein, Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie, Eli Bush, Dani Bernfeld, Lance Oppenheim, David Gauvey Herbert, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller, Sara Rodriguez
Co-Executive Producers: Abigail Rowe, Christian Vasquez, Max Allman

Social Studies
Creator/Executive Producer: Lauren Greenfield
Executive Producers: Wallis Annenberg, Regina K. Scully, Andrea van Beuren, Frank Evers, Caryn Capotosto

Best New Scripted Series

Baby Reindeer
Creator/Executive Producer: Richard Gadd
Executive Producers: Wim De Greef, Petra Fried, Matt Jarvis, Ed Macdonald

Diarra From Detroit
Creator/Executive Producer: Diarra Kilpatrick
Executive Producers: Kenya Barris, Miles Orion Feldsott, Darren Goldberg
Co-Executive Producers: Ester Lou, Mark Ganek

English Teacher
Creator/Executive Producer: Brian Jordan Alvarez
Executive Producers: Paul Simms, Jonathan Krisel, Dave King
Co-Executive Producers: Kathryn Dean, Jake Bender, Zach Dunn

Fantasmas
Creator/Executive Producer: Julio Torres
Executive Producers: Emma Stone, Dave McCary, Olivia Gerke, Alex Bach, Daniel Powell
Co-Executive Producer: Ali Herting

Shogun (WINNER)
Creators/Executive Producers: Rachel Kondo, Justin Marks
Executive Producers: Edward L. McDonnell, Michael De Luca, Michaela Clavell
Co-Executive Producers: Shannon Goss, Andrew Macdonald, Allon Reich

Best Lead Performance in a New Scripted Series

• Brian Jordan Alvarez, English Teacher
• Richard Gadd, Baby Reindeer (WINNER)
• Lily Gladstone, Under the Bridge
• Kathryn Hahn, Agatha All Along
• Cristin Milioti, The Penguin
• Julianne Moore, Mary & George
• Hiroyuki Sanada, Shogun
• Anna Sawai, Shogun
• Andrew Scott, Ripley
• Julio Torres, Fantasmas

Best Supporting Performance in a New Scripted Series

• Tadanobu Asano, Shogun
• Enrico Colantoni, English Teacher
• Betty Gilpin, Three Women
• Chloe Guidry, Under the Bridge
• Moeka Hoshi, Shogun
• Stephanie Koenig, English Teacher
• Patti LuPone, Agatha All Along
• Nava Mau, Baby Reindeer (WINNER)
• Ruth Negga, Presumed Innocent
• Brian Tee, Expats

Best Breakthrough Performance in a New Scripted Series

• Jessica Gunning, Baby Reindeer (WINNER)
• Diarra Kilpatrick, Diarra From Detroit
• Joe Locke, Agatha All Along
• Megan Stott, Penelope
• Hoa Xuande, The Sympathizer

Best Ensemble Cast in a New Scripted Series

• How to Die Alone (WINNER) Ensemble Cast: Melissa DuPrey, Jaylee Hamidi, KeiLyn Durrel Jones, Arkie Kandola, Elle Lorraine, Michelle McLeod, Chris “CP” Powell, Conrad Ricamora, Natasha Rothwell, Jocko Sims