Everything You Missed at the 2025 Film Independent Spirit Awards
Picture this: a crisp Santa Monica afternoon with the ocean breeze rustling along the infamous blue carpet, laughter filling the air, the gentle hiss of milk being frothed, courtesy of Lavazza, and liquid gold from Bulleit splashing into guests’ glasses.
Welcome to the 40th Film Independent Spirit Awards – an experience like no other. In a homecoming of sorts, filmmakers didn’t just arrive to celebrate; they came to quench their thirst for collaboration, community and seriously good cappuccinos, refilling their creative cups and paying homage to a year of indie cinema that soared despite global chaos.
AIDY SETS THE TONE
The day kicked off with our host, SNL alum Aidy Bryant, who greeted the crowd and remarked, “40 is the new 20!” Though the show has officially entered middle age, it has no plans of slowing anytime soon. “I saw a lot of your old asses get sad when TikTok got banned,” Bryant teased. Ouch, but also… truth. Aidy kept the quips coming: “I feel like a lot of people in their 40s realized that their whole life they’ve actually been bi.” So, congrats!? Although she did posit that maybe that’s just the extra excitement we get from simple things as we get older. You know, like a fresh loaf of French bread. Oh, Aidy… never change.
A TRIBUTE TO JOSH WELSH
The 40th Spirit Awards marked the first in many years without our beloved President, Josh Welsh. Since 1996, he championed the independent spirit with tireless devotion and unshakable faith in filmmakers. Acting President Brenda Robinson honored him in her speech. “Today is a day of celebration, not just of artistry but of legacy. We are honoring excellence in storytelling and,” she continued, “in the case of our beloved Josh Welsh, excellence in a life well lived. Josh is a visionary that comes along once in a lifetime.”
Robinson spoke of Josh deliberately in the present tense, as his spirit was most certainly in the room with all of those in attendance.
BABY’S FIRST REINDEER
The first award of the night, Best Breakthrough Performance in film, went to Maisy Stella (My Old Ass). Visibly moved, Maisy admitted, “I’ve felt so much support from the independent film community.” She also shared how she loves it when fans tell her, “I just wanna call my mom and tell her I love her.”
Soon after, Nava Mau (Baby Reindeer) glowed on stage accepting her award for Best Supporting Performance in a New Scripted Series. She spoke to reporters candidly about her heritage: “I was born in Mexico City. My entire family is from Mexico. I’m very proud to be Mexican American. It taught me to be collectivist. I think film and TV is meant to be collectivist.”
Mau’s co-star, Jessica Gunning (Baby Reindeer), nabbed Best Breakthrough Performance in a New Scripted Series shortly thereafter. Reflecting on her decision to join the project, Gunning said of Richard Gadd’s scripts, “They were just so strong. I got to read all seven in one go.”
Gadd himself scored Best Lead Performance in a New Scripted Series for Baby Reindeer. He addressed the show’s intensely intimate scenes, explaining that revisiting that period was “tough” and required time to “undo the show” from his body and spirit. The effort, however, paid off. “I can’t believe how much this show has resonated with people. I never thought it would be watched by this many. I think a quarter of a billion people have watched Baby Reindeer.” If you haven’t seen it yet, don’t wait any longer to watch this decorated series.
DÌDI’S BIG MOMENT: A LOVE LETTER TO MOMS ACROSS THE GLOBE
Sean Wang, the director of Dìdi, which took home Best First Screenplay, joked, “I started writing this when I was a kid – and I still look like a kid.” He credited the indie film community for embracing a story about a young Taiwanese boy from the East Bay, who learns how to love his mother the summer before 9th grade. “I remember googling ‘coming-of-age movies’ and not seeing a single poster featuring anyone who looked like me or Izaac [Wang, the film’s star]. So having people believe in this project, investing their time and energy, is something truly special.”
JOHN CASSAVETTES AWARD, RENAMED?
Playfully coined “The Gena Rowlands Award” by Patti Lupone and Natasha Lyonne, in honor of the recently departed collaborator and spouse of Cassavetes, the John Cassavetes Award award is presented to the creative team of a film with a budget less than $1,000,000. The pair presented the honor to Shuchi Talati and Richa Chadha for their film Girls Will Be Girls. Shuchi confessed, “I’m grateful to my friend who told me this morning I should prepare something.” She described orchestrating a massive scene with 150 kids on their second day of shooting. Talk about jumping right into the deep end.
Then, director Gints Zibalowis picked up Best International Film for his animated feature Flow and joked, “We usually get ice cream when we lose [at an awards ceremony] – tonight, no ice cream!”
SEAN BAKER, ANORA’S TRIPLE WIN – AND THAT SPEECH!
Sean Baker scored Best Director for Anora, one of three Spirit Awards his film would earn (along with Best Lead Performance and Best Feature). In his inspiring acceptance speech, Baker addressed the precarious future of indie film. “Indie film is struggling right now more than ever,” began his call to action. With fewer distribution avenues and revenue from DVD sales long gone, he mused that indie filmmaking is becoming harder and harder to sustain, with the average film taking three years or more to make. “If you are a writer or director trying to break in right now, there is a good chance you are making a film for free. How do you support yourself with little to no income for three years,” he questioned, as the audience erupted in applause and agreement, all too familiar with the myriad challenges that stand in the way of creatives earning a fair living.
Later, when speaking to press, Baker shrugged when asked about the future. “We have no idea what’s happening in the next four years, but we know the last five changed everything.” The unstoppable Anora also garnered Best Lead Performance for Mikey Madison, who beamed, “I’m grateful for the love people have for Anora.”
At the end of the show, as the team from Anora accepted the Best Feature prize, producer Alex Coco exclaimed, “I’ll make a thousand student films with you, Sean Baker,” speaking about the director’s filmmaking process. “It’s amazing journey to go on.” Fellow producer Samantha Quan added, “We hope we can always be young and dumb enough to follow our dreams, no matter the outcome,” celebrating the pursuits fearless dreamers everywhere.
CINEMATOGRAPHY AND THE 1%
After winning Best Cinematography for Nickel Boys, Jomo Fray powerfully noted, “99% of images of people of color have been taken by white people; those who don’t know them on a deeper, intrinsic level.”
His mission, along with director RaMell Moss, was to capture intimacy and compassion, offering a new and authentic perspective on stories often viewed through the lens – literally and figuratively – of that 99%. The film, set in Florida in the 1960s, was an ode not only to young black men at that time, but to the 1% of people who saw them as human beings.
JESSE EISENBERG’S FAIRY GODMOTHER
Ever humble yet always witty, Jesse Eisenberg (A Real Pain) claimed his first Spirit Award for Best Screenplay. He took a moment to praise producer and fellow actor Emma Stone: “I think about her not as my producer but as a fairy godmother. I am riding the coattails of her goodwill and I think it’s so important that someone like her, who is so unbelievably successful in mainstream movies, looks for people like me and Julio [Torres, Problemista] and Jane [Schoenbrun, I Saw The TV Glow] to try and produce our movies with all the goodwill that she’s amassed so rightly and deservedly over the last several years. Thanks, Emma.”
HOW NOT TO DIE AT THE WHITE LOTUS
Presented by her The White Lotus co-stars Carrie Coon and Walton Goggins, How To Die Alone creator and star Natasha Rothwell accepted Best Ensemble Cast in a New Scripted Series for her series. In the press area backstage, she called the show “a love letter to the version of myself who was afraid to take off,” garnering a unanimously warm response. She noted the show’s eight-year journey from idea to screen, saying, “I could have sacrificed the show’s integrity, but I didn’t.” Spirited and steadfast, indeed.
BEST NEW SCRIPTED AND NON-SCRIPTED SERIES
Shōgun claimed Best New Scripted Series, with its creators joking about extended COVID delays: “We had a year longer than we thought before shooting.” Sometimes that much extra time can be a blessing, and sometimes not. But in this, that extra time helped the Shōgun team create a show that has resonated with audiences around the world.
When asked what Best New Non-Scripted or Documentary Series Hollywood Black was missing, Justin Simien, one of the show’s executive producers, said, “Josephine Baker and Nobel Johnson just to name a few. I am so excited to talk about black queer cinema too!” He gave a heartfelt shoutout to showrunner Shayla Harris and shared how meaningful it was to connect with contemporaries like Forest Whitaker. “His process was my process.”
ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD & BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
The Robert Altman Award, which celebrates a film with an outstanding ensemble cast, went to His Three Daughters, directed by Azazel Jacobs. He recalled learning “that punk rock lesson of making art for myself,” after seeing Altman’s controversial film Popeye as a kid and watching audience members storm out of the theater – which he loved and appreciated, then and now.
One of the film’s stars Carrie Coon noted she and the cast had just 17 days to film and create palpable, believable chemistry on screen. “We all came in really prepared,” she shared. “We respect and love each other,” she grinned, turning to hug her costars Elizabeth Olsen and Natasha Lyonne.
CLOSING APPLAUSE
As the Spirit Awards came to a close, we raised our glasses – Lavazza for the caffeine lovers, Fiji for a spot of hydration, or a splash of Bulleit to keep the celebration rolling – in honor of the indie spirit. After four decades, the Film Independent Spirit Awards remains a beacon. No matter how the industry shifts in the face of streaming, social media bans, wildfires, or any other variety of catastrophe, the independent filmmaking community endures.
As Nicole Kidman famously says, “There’s something magical about this place.” Indeed, the magic of Josh Welsh still reverberates. He gave countless storytellers a place to grow, encouraging them to persevere, even in his absence. The sun has set on the 40th annual Film Independent Spirit Awards, but his legacy, and those of the storytellers the show has celebrated and will celebrate, will shine on for another four decades, and beyond.
Until next year, keep your community strong, and let it overflow with passion, love, and a fiercely independent spirit. Cheers!
For more on this year’s Spirit Awards, take a look at the complete list of winners and revisit your favorite #SpiritAwards moments at youtube.com/filmindependent.
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