Independent Spirit Awards 2025: Winners and Highlights
Image credits: Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty Images
The 40th annual Independent Spirit Awards took place in Santa Monica, California, celebrating the best in independent film and television. The awards show, held in a giant tent off the Santa Monica Beach, is a famously laid-back affair, and this year's winners are also vying for Oscar gold. With a little more than a week until the Academy Awards, the Indie Spirits honored writer and director Sean Baker's "Anora" with three major awards, including best feature, best director, and best lead performance for star Mikey Madison.
The drama about a Brooklyn sex worker and her whirlwind affair with a Russian oligarch's son has gone from a Cinderella success story to Oscar frontrunner, with six Academy Award nominations, including best picture, best director for Baker, and best actress for Madison. Accepting the best director's award, Baker gave an impassioned speech for independent films, which have taken a major financial hit amid declining DVD revenues. "We want complete artistic freedom and the freedom to cast who is right for the role, not who the studios want us to cast, considering box office value or how many followers they have on social media," Baker said. Madison beat out Demi Moore for the award, with both nominated for the best actress Oscar, and thanked Baker, calling him "a wonderful friend and incredible Chihuahua owner."
In other categories, Jesse Eisenberg won the best screenplay award for "A Real Pain," which he directed and starred in with Kieran Culkin. Eisenberg thanked producer Emma Stone, saying she is "definitely still the most famous person, yet also the most dedicated to encouraging me as a writer." The TV categories saw FX's epic "Shōgun" win best scripted series, but "Baby Reindeer" dominated, with three awards: Richard Gadd won best lead performance, Nava Mau won best supporting performance, and Jessica Gunning won best breakthrough performance. Gadd, who won three Emmys for the limited series, said the Indie Spirit win marked the end of his awards season, and thanked the Spirit Awards, saying "any award that champions the underdog is absolutely right by me."
The Netflix series "Baby Reindeer" also picked up several prizes, for actors Richard Gadd, Jessica Gunning, and Nava Mau. Mau spoke about the importance of actors sticking together "as we move into this next chapter," saying "we don't know what is going to happen, but we do know our power." Other television winners included "Shōgun," for best new scripted series, and "How to Die Alone," for best ensemble. The show also paid tribute to longtime Film Independent president Josh Welsh, who died earlier this year at age 62, and acknowledged the impact of the wildfires on Los Angeles, with host Aidy Bryant making a plea to help rebuild L.A. and pointing to a QR code to make donations to the Film Independent Emergency Filmmaker Relief Fund.
The Independent Spirit Awards aims to celebrate the best in independent film and television, offering a more irreverent take on the Oscars. The awards limit eligibility to productions with budgets of $30 million or less, meaning more expensive Oscar nominees like "Wicked" and "Dune: Part Two" were not in the running. The winners of the Independent Spirit Awards include:
- Best Feature: "Anora"
- Best Director: Sean Baker for "Anora"
- Best Lead Performance: Mikey Madison for "Anora"
- Best Screenplay: Jesse Eisenberg for "A Real Pain"
- Best Supporting Performance: Kieran Culkin for "A Real Pain"
- Best New Scripted Series: "Shōgun"
- Best New Non-Scripted Series: "Hollywood Black"
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