Film Independent Spirit Awards


The Film Independent Spirit Awards, once known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards, and later as the Independent Spirit Awards, are awards presented annually to independent filmmakers by Film Independent. Founded in 1984 as the FINDIE Awards, the event was renamed the Independent Spirit Awards in 1986. The ceremony is produced by Film Independent, a not-for-profit arts organization that used to produce the LA Film Festival. Film Independent members vote to determine the winners of the Spirit Awards.
The awards show has been held in a tent on a beach in Santa Monica, California, historically on the Saturday before the Academy Awards. In 2023, the ceremony was moved to the week before the Oscars, with the expectation that its winners could influence the final days of Oscar voting. The show was previously broadcast live on the IFC network in the US until 2023, when it was moved to YouTube, as well as Hollywood Suite in Canada and A&E Latin America. Winners were previously presented with acrylic glass pyramids containing suspended shoestrings representing the bare budgets of independent films.
In 2020, new categories were announced for the 36th Independent Spirit Awards, which would honor the best in television productions and performances. These categories included Best New Scripted Series, Best New Non-Scripted or Documentary Series, Best Male Performance, Best Female Performance, and Best Ensemble Cast. In 2022, it was announced that gender neutral acting categories would be implemented and that the previous gendered film categories — Male Lead, Female Lead, Male Supporting and Female Supporting — would be retired in favor of a Best Lead Performance and a Best Supporting Performance categories, which would feature 10 nominees each. Other new categories added included Best Breakthrough Performance and Best Lead and Supporting Performance in the TV section.
, films competing for Independent Spirit Awards must have budgets lower than $28 million, but no budget cap exists for television shows.
In 2026, the show will take place on February 15, 2026, at the Palladium in Hollywood.

Categories

Film categories
Television categories
Emerging filmmakers awards
'''Retired categories'''

History

Founded in 1979, the New York-based organization Independent Feature Project is now known as The Gotham Film & Media Institute, with Gotham TV Awards and Gotham Independent Film Awards.
By 1981, Gregory Nava and Anna Thomas and a small semi-informal group of directors–filmmakers, writers and producers began to regularly meet, share knowledge and support each other's projects, eventually calling themselves was soon known as Independent Feature Project/West. Robert "Bob" Rosen, former Dean of the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, was one of the founding board members.
In 1984 the FINDIE Awards were conceived by Independent Features Project/West board member Jeanne Lucas and Independent Features Project/West President Anne Kimmel and director/writer Sam O'Brien was an event producer. The awards are voted on by a nominating committee.
In 1985, Peter Coyote and Jamie Lee Curtis presented winners with a Plexiglas pyramid designed by Carol Bosselman, which contain a suspended shoestring, printed with sprocket holes, representing the shoestring budgets of independent films. The Reel Gold Award, also designed by Bosselman, was given to Steve Wachtel for allowing Independent Features Project/West continuing free use of his screening room. It was associated with Filmex. In 1986, Bosselman designed and sculpted the Independent Spirit Award statue that is still given out today, using a lost wax bronze casting method.
1985 Awards
  • Best Feature, After Hours
  • Best Director, Joel Coen
  • Best Female Lead, Geraldine Page
  • Best Male Lead, M. Emmet Walsh
  • Best Cinematography, Trouble in Mind
  • Best Screenplay, After Hours
  • Special Distinction Award, Kiss of the Spider Woman
Dawn Hudson was director of Independent Features Project/West in 1995.
Barbara Boyle was Independent Features Project/West president from 1994 to 1999.
By 2001, Independent Features Project/West became Film Independent. The name Film Independent was adopted in 2005.
In the late summer, we open up for submissions. Individual filmmakers and studios and distributors send their films to us. We assemble nominating committees in the fall. They’re composed of many different people within the industry.

At the 2025 Independent Spirit Awards, acting president Brenda Robinson delivered a heartfelt tribute to longtime Film Independent president Josh Welsh, honoring the "visionary" who died on New Year's Eve at the age of 62 after a five-year battle with colon cancer. Welsh, who had served as president since 2012, was remembered for his immense contributions to the organization and the film community.

Ceremonies

Formerly held at a restaurant, and a hotel, and a ballroom, it is most recently held the day before the Academy Awards as a luncheon event in a tented parking lot next to the ocean in Santa Monica.
#DateYear HonoredBest FilmBest First FeatureHost
1stMarch 22, 19861985After Hours—Peter Coyote
2ndMarch 28, 19871986PlatoonShe's Gotta Have ItBuck Henry
3rdFebruary 11, 19881987River's EdgeDirty DancingBuck Henry
4thMarch 25, 19891988Stand and DeliverMystic PizzaBuck Henry
5thMarch 24, 19901989Sex, Lies, and VideotapeHeathersBuck Henry
6thMarch 23, 19911990The GriftersMetropolitanBuck Henry
7thMarch 28, 19921991Rambling RoseStraight Out of BrooklynBuck Henry
8thMarch 27, 19931992The PlayerThe WaterdanceBuck Henry
9thMarch 19, 19941993Short CutsEl MariachiRobert Townsend
10thMarch 25, 19951994Pulp FictionSpanking the MonkeyKevin Pollak
11thMarch 23, 19961995Leaving Las VegasThe Brothers McMullenSamuel L. Jackson
12thMarch 22, 19971996FargoSling BladeSamuel L. Jackson
13thMarch 21, 19981997The ApostleEve's BayouJohn Turturro
14thMarch 20, 19991998Gods and MonstersThe Opposite of SexQueen Latifah
15thMarch 25, 20001999ElectionBeing John Malkovich
The Blair Witch Project 		Jennifer Tilly
16thMarch 24, 20012000Crouching Tiger, Hidden DragonYou Can Count on Me
Chuck & Buck 		John Waters
17thMarch 23, 20022001MementoIn the BedroomJohn Waters
18thMarch 22, 20032002Far from HeavenThe Dangerous Lives of Altar BoysJohn Waters
19thFebruary 28, 20042003Lost in TranslationMonsterJohn Waters
20thFebruary 26, 20052004SidewaysGarden StateSamuel L. Jackson
21stMarch 4, 20062005Brokeback MountainCrashSarah Silverman
22ndFebruary 24, 20072006Little Miss SunshineSweet LandSarah Silverman
23rdFebruary 23, 20082007JunoThe LookoutRainn Wilson
24thFebruary 21, 20092008The WrestlerSynecdoche, New YorkSteve Coogan
25thMarch 5, 20102009PreciousCrazy HeartEddie Izzard
26thFebruary 26, 20112010Black SwanGet LowJoel McHale
27thFebruary 25, 20122011The ArtistMargin CallSeth Rogen
28thFebruary 23, 20132012Silver Linings PlaybookThe Perks of Being a WallflowerAndy Samberg
29thMarch 1, 2014201312 Years a SlaveFruitvale StationPatton Oswalt
30thFebruary 21, 20152014Birdman or NightcrawlerFred Armisen, Kristen Bell
31stFebruary 27, 20162015SpotlightThe Diary of a Teenage GirlKate McKinnon, Kumail Nanjiani
32ndFebruary 25, 20172016MoonlightThe WitchNick Kroll, John Mulaney
33rdMarch 3, 20182017Get OutIngrid Goes WestNick Kroll, John Mulaney
34thFebruary 23, 20192018If Beale Street Could TalkSorry to Bother YouAubrey Plaza
35thFebruary 8, 20202019The FarewellBooksmartAubrey Plaza
36thApril 22, 20212020NomadlandSound of MetalMelissa Villaseñor
37thMarch 6, 20222021The Lost Daughter7 DaysMegan Mullally, Nick Offerman
38thMarch 4, 20232022Everything Everywhere All at OnceAftersunHasan Minhaj
39thFebruary 25, 20242023Past LivesA Thousand and OneAidy Bryant
40thFebruary 22, 20252024AnoraDìdiAidy Bryant
41stFebruary 15, 20262025Ego Nwodim