The Film Independent Spirit Awards (Fi Spirit Awards), formerly known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards, and also known as the Independent Spirit Awards, are awards presented annually to independent filmmakers by Film Independent.provides alternative start date as 1986, not 1984 Founded in 1984 as the FINDIE Awards (Friends of Independents), the event was renamed the Independent Spirit Awards in 1986. The ceremony is produced by Film Independent, a not-for-profit arts organization that also produced 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,. Citation supporting televised on IFC in 2011. 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.'Everything Everywhere All at Once' lands 8 Independent Spirit Award nominations - Yahoo News
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 would replace the gendered film categories (Male Lead, Female Lead, Male Supporting and Female Supporting) in favor of a Best Lead Performance and a Best Supporting Performance categories, which would feature ten nominees each. Other new categories added included Best Breakthrough Performance and Best Lead and Supporting Performance for television.
, films competing for Independent Spirit Awards must have budgets lower than $28 million, but there is no budget requirement for television shows.
The 41st Independent Spirit Awards was held on February 15, 2026, at the Palladium in Hollywood.
Categories Film categories
Television categories
Emerging filmmakers awards
Retired categories
History
The organization was founded in 1979, by the New York-based organization Independent Feature Project, which was later renamed as The Gotham Film & Media Institute, known for organizing the Gotham 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, and would be 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 (Friends of Independents) 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 currently presented, using a lost wax bronze casting method.
1985 Awards Source: 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.
Josh Welsh served as president of Film Independent from 2012 until his death on December 31, 2024, from colon cancer at age 62. At the 40th Independent Spirit Awards, acting president Brenda Robinson delivered a heartfelt tribute to Welsh, and honored the "visionary". Welsh 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 was held the day before the Academy Awards until 2020, as a luncheon event in a tented parking lot next to the ocean in Santa Monica.
#DateYear HonoredBest FilmBest First FeatureHost(s)1stMarch 22, 19861985After Hours—Peter Coyote2ndMarch 28, 19871986PlatoonShe's Gotta Have ItBuck Henry3rdFebruary 11, 19881987River's EdgeDirty Dancing4thMarch 25, 19891988Stand and DeliverMystic Pizza5thMarch 24, 19901989Sex, Lies, and VideotapeHeathers6thMarch 23, 19911990The GriftersMetropolitan7thMarch 28, 19921991Rambling RoseStraight Out of Brooklyn8thMarch 27, 19931992The PlayerThe Waterdance9thMarch 19, 19941993Short CutsEl MariachiRobert Townsend10thMarch 25, 19951994Pulp FictionSpanking the MonkeyKevin Pollak11thMarch 23, 19961995Leaving Las VegasThe Brothers McMullenSamuel L. Jackson12thMarch 22, 19971996FargoSling Blade13thMarch 21, 19981997The ApostleEve's BayouJohn Turturro14thMarch 20, 19991998Gods and MonstersThe Opposite of SexQueen Latifah15thMarch 25, 20001999ElectionBeing John Malkovich (Over $500,000)The Blair Witch Project (Under $500,000)Jennifer Tilly16thMarch 24, 20012000Crouching Tiger, Hidden DragonYou Can Count on MeChuck & Buck (Under $500,000)John Waters17thMarch 23, 20022001MementoIn the Bedroom18thMarch 22, 20032002Far from HeavenThe Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys19thFebruary 28, 20042003Lost in TranslationMonster20thFebruary 26, 20052004SidewaysGarden StateSamuel L. Jackson21stMarch 4, 20062005Brokeback MountainCrashSarah Silverman22ndFebruary 24, 20072006Little Miss SunshineSweet Land23rdFebruary 23, 20082007JunoThe LookoutRainn Wilson24thFebruary 21, 20092008The WrestlerSynecdoche, New YorkSteve Coogan25thMarch 5, 20102009PreciousCrazy HeartEddie Izzard26thFebruary 26, 20112010Black SwanGet LowJoel McHale27thFebruary 25, 20122011The ArtistMargin CallSeth Rogen28thFebruary 23, 20132012Silver Linings PlaybookThe Perks of Being a WallflowerAndy Samberg29thMarch 1, 2014201312 Years a SlaveFruitvale StationPatton Oswalt30thFebruary 21, 20152014Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)NightcrawlerFred Armisen, Kristen Bell31stFebruary 27, 20162015SpotlightThe Diary of a Teenage GirlKate McKinnon, Kumail Nanjiani32ndFebruary 25, 20172016MoonlightThe WitchNick Kroll, John Mulaney33rdMarch 3, 20182017Get OutIngrid Goes West34thFebruary 23, 20192018If Beale Street Could TalkSorry to Bother YouAubrey Plaza35thFebruary 8, 20202019The FarewellBooksmart36thApril 22, 20212020NomadlandSound of MetalMelissa Villaseñor37thMarch 6, 20222021The Lost Daughter7 DaysMegan Mullally, Nick Offerman38thMarch 4, 20232022Everything Everywhere All at OnceAftersunHasan Minhaj 39th February 25, 2024 2023 Past Lives A Thousand and One Aidy Bryant 40th February 22, 2025 2024 Anora Dìdi 41st February 15, 2026 2025 Train Dreams Lurker Ego Nwodim
See also American Cinematheque Sundance Film Festival Indiewood Gotham Awards
References
External links
The 2015 official rules and regulations of the Independent Spirit Awards