Independent Spirit Awards 2026 preview – Awards Season Bonus

Whether or not you plan to watch along when the 2026 Spirit Awards air this Sunday, February 15 (or later), Elysia will walk you through everything you need to know: what's nominated in what categories, what overlaps are there with the Oscars, and what hidden gems might you want to check out.

Chapters

• Emerging Filmmaker Awards jury prizes (00:02:40)
• Special Awards jury prizes (00:18:44)
• Best Feature categories (00:31:10)
• First Feature categories (00:53:48)
• Acting categories for film (01:05:38)  
• Technical categories (01:19:50)
• Documentary (01:31:10) 
• International (01:40:18)
• TV awards (01:47:00)
• Top 10 films (01:54:44)

Elysia's top 10 Spirit Awards films for Lorehounds

1. Twinless (Hulu, VoD)
2. Lurker (Mubi, VoD)
3. The Long Walk (Starz, VoD)
4. Fucktoys
5. Splitsville (Hulu, VoD)
6. The Baltimorons (AMC+, VoD)
7. One of Them Days (Netflix)
8. Hedda (Prime)
9. A Poet
10. Tie: The Plague (VoD) & On Becoming a Guinea Fowl (HBO, VoD)

Find the full list of Spirit Award nominees here

The 41st Independent Spirit Awards will air Sunday, February 15, 2025 at 5 pm ET – watch on YouTube as it airs and join us in the Lorehounds Discord (see linktree) for a live-watch chat!

Check your extended stats (including the Spirit Awards and jury prize nominees) on DeathRaceTracking.com

Spirit Award nominees covered

The Baltimorons (ContraZoom blog)

Friendship (Properly Howard podcast)

For subscribers: 

If I Had Legs I Would Kick You (Leiden IFF – WhachaWachin)

Fucktoys (Imagine Fantastic FF – WhachaWachin)

Non-Oscars awards coverage

BAFTA longlisted shorts

Independent Spirit Awards preview (this episode)

BAFTAs preview

Oscars 2026 coverage

Nominations + Best Picture preview

Live-Action, Animated, & Documentary Shorts

Production Design, Costumes, Makeup & Hair

International Features

Documentary Features

Animated Features

Score & Original Song

Cinematography, Editing, Sound, VFX

Director, Original & Adapted Screenplay

Lead & Supporting Actor & Actress, Casting

Ceremony reactions + Best Picture rankings

Deep dives into 2026 Oscar nominees

Sinners

One Battle After Another – pt. 1, pt. 2, pt. 3

Frankenstein

Weapons

Shorts: “Two People Exchanging Saliva,” “Jane Austen’s Period Drama,” “The Singers,” “Retirement Plan,” and “The Girl Who Cried Pearls”

For subscribers: Leiden IFF – WhachaWachin (Sentimental Value, If I Had Legs I Would Kick You, and Arco)

Revisit Oscars 2024 & 2025: links in these show notes

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