‘Anora’ dominates 2025 Independent Spirit Awards: See all the winners
Anora continued its February roll through awards season, dominating the 40th Annual Film Independent Spirit Awards on Saturday with wins for Best Feature, Best Director for Sean Baker and Best Lead Performance for star Mikey Madison.
In winning for top feature, Anora beat out fellow Oscar Best Picture nominees Nickel Boys and The Substance along with Sing Sing and I Saw the TV Glow. Baker prevailed in the director race over another Academy Award nominee, onetime favorite Brady Corbet for The Brutalist, as well as Ali Abbasi (The Apprentice), Alonso Ruizpalacios (La Cocina), and Jane Schoenbrun (I Saw the TV Glow). And Madison, on the heels of her BAFTA win last week, knocked off her chief Best Actress competition at the Oscars, Demi Moore — setting the stage for a SAG Awards showdown Sunday night. (The Spirits’ acting categories aren’t gendered, so Madison triumphed over a field that also included Best Actor Oscar nominees Colman Domingo and Sebastian Stan.)
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The victories by Anora and Baker at the Indie Spirits are anything but a surprise, as no film came into this weekend on a bigger awards season roll than the Neon pic and its filmmaker. After winning the prestigious Palme d’Or at Cannes, Anora landed the top prizes from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and the New York Film Critics Circle in December. After landing six Oscar bids, the film really started racking up the victories: Best Picture at the Critics Choice Awards, top prizes at the DGA, PGA, and WGA, and then BAFTA honors for casting and lead actress (Madison).
In his acceptance speech for Best Director, Baker made an impassioned plea to change a challenged independent film production system that he called “completely unsustainable.” He noted, “The system has to be changed. We shouldn’t barely be getting by…If you’re a writer or director trying to break in right now, you’ll make a film for free.”
Baker maintained that it takes three years to make an indie feature and that a person needs to have a massive box office hit to realize any great profit, driving home the point that indie cinema itself is “struggling more than ever” with too great a sacrifice for creativity over financial gain. “Take the DGA minimum and divide it by three,” he said. At the same time, he proudly described himself as “an indie lifer.” The speech was met by a raucous standing ovation by the audience.
Anora aside, Jesse Eisenberg added further fuel to his Oscar chances by winning for Best Screenplay for A Real Pain on the heels of his landing the same statuette at BAFTAs, while costar Kieran Culkin continued to roll through awards season undefeated by earning the Best Supporting Performance honor. Two-time Academy Award nominee Flow earned the Spirit for Best International Film, while Jomo Fray won the Best Cinematography award for Nickel Boys.
And in TV, Shōgun kept its perfect winning record intact by copping the Best New Scripted Series honor, while the international hit Netflix limited series Baby Reindeer won three: Richard Gadd for Best Lead Performance in a New Scripted Series along with Jessica Gunning (breakthrough performance) and Nava Mau (supporting performance).
Last year, the top prize for Best Feature went to the romantic drama Past Lives, which earned Oscar bids for Best Picture and Best Original Screenplay. Its director, Celine Song, also won the Spirit statue for Best Director. In fact, seven of the last 10 Spirit winners were also up for the top Academy Award, including eventual Oscar winners Birdman (2015), Spotlight (2016), Moonlight (2017), Nomadland (2021), and Everything Everywhere All at Once (2023). The only Spirit winner in the last decade not to receive any Oscar nominations was The Farewell (2020).
Early on in the ceremony, Didi won Best First Feature for producer-director Sean Wang, who later won his second of the day for Best First Screenplay. Maisy Stella won the Best Breakthrough Performance award for My Old Ass and No Other Land took home the trophy for Best Documentary.
Going into the ceremony, Anora and I Saw the TV Glow led the Spirit nominations with six bids apiece. On the TV side, Shōgun dominated with five noms, followed by Baby Reindeer and English Teacher with four each.
The Spirit Awards pay tribute to independent voices working outside the major studio system in both movies and television, as decided by members of Film Independent. The nominating committees comprise writers, directors, producers, cinematographers, editors, actors, critics, casting directors, film festival programmers, and other working film professionals. Winners are chosen by film industry insiders as well as everyday film lovers who pay their yearly dues to be part of Film Independent. Members have access to Film Independent’s exclusive nominee screening room online, as well as a number of awards season experiences including special screenings and Q&As.
For the third straight year, a movie’s budget cap for qualification at the Spirits is a production cost of $30 million or less. This disqualified several films nominated for Best Picture at this year’s Oscars, including Emilia Pérez, A Complete Unknown, Conclave, and Dune: Part Two. Additionally, it was in 2022 that the awards group decided to switch to gender-neutral acting categories.
The ceremony took place on Santa Monica Pier and was hosted by comedian, actress, and SNL alumna Aidy Bryant for the second straight year.
Here’s the complete list of 2025 Spirit Awards winners:
FILM CATEGORIES
Best Feature: Anora
Best First Feature: Didi
John Cassavetes Award (for best feature made under $1,000,000): Girls Will Be Girls
Best Director: Sean Baker, Anora
Best Screenplay: Jesse Eisenberg, A Real Pain
Best First Screenplay: Sean Wang, Dìdi
Best Lead Performance: Mikey Madison, Anora
Best Supporting Performance: Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain
Best Breakthrough Performance: Maisy Stella, My Old Ass
Best Cinematography: Jomo Fray, Nickel Boys
Best Editing: Hansj?rg Weissbrich, September 5
Robert Altman Award (given to film’s director, casting director, and ensemble cast): His Three Daughters (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: No Other Land
Best International Film: Flow (Latvia, France, Belgium)
Producers Award: Sarah Winshall, I Saw the TV Glow
Someone to Watch Award: Sarah Friedland, director of Familiar Touch
Truer Than Fiction Award: Rachel Elizabeth Seed, director of A Photographic Memory
TELEVISION CATEGORIES
Best New Scripted Series: Shōgun
Best New Non-Scripted or Documentary Series: Hollywood Black
Best Lead Performance in a New Scripted Series: Richard Gadd, Baby Reindeer
Best Supporting Performance in a New Scripted Series: Nava Mau, Baby Reindeer
Best Breakthrough Performance in a New Scripted Series: Jessica Gunning, Baby Reindeer
Best Ensemble Cast in a New Scripted Series: How to Die Alone (ensemble cast: Melissa DuPrey, Jaylee Hamidi, KeiLyn Durrel Jones, Arkie Kandola, Elle Lorraine, Michelle McLeod, Chris “CP” Powell, Conrad Ricamora, Natasha Rothwell, Jocko Sims)
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