41st Independent Spirit Awards Nominations: ‘Peter Hujar’s Day’ Leads the Film Pack

Film Independent has announced the nominations for the 40th Annual Independent Spirit Awards, crowning this year’s achievements in independent film. After taking place for years in the Santa Monica tent, the ceremony will now be held at the Hollywood Palladium on February 15, 2026. The various films nominated will likely gain further traction this awards season. After all, last ceremony’s Best Feature winner, Anora, went on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.

Leading the pack with 5 nominations in the film section is writer-director Ira Sachs’ Peter Hujar’s Day, which has been nominated for Best Feature, Best Director for Sachs, Best Lead Performance for Ben Whishaw, Best Supporting Performance for Rebecca Hall, and Best Cinematography for Alex Ashe. Netflix is the studio leading the pack with 18 nominations (both film and TV), followed by A24 with 10.

You can watch the Film Independent Spirit Award nominations announced live below on YouTube, as well as the full list of nominations:

BEST FEATURE  (Award given to the producer)

Peter Hujar’s Day

Producers: Jonah Disend, Jordan Drake

The Plague

Producers: Derek Dauchy, Joel Edgerton, Roy Lee, Lucy McKendrick, Steven Schneider, Lizzie Shapiro

Sorry, Baby

Producers: Mark Ceryak, Barry Jenkins, Adele Romanski

Train Dreams

Producers: Michael Heimler, Will Janowitz, Marissa McMahon, Ashley Schlaifer, Teddy Schwarzman

Twinless

Producers: David Permut, James Sweeney

BEST FIRST FEATURE (Award given to director and producer)

Blue Sun Palace

Director: Constance Tsang

Producers: Sally Sujin Oh, Eli Raskin, Tony Yang

Dust Bunny

Director/Producer: Bryan Fuller

Producers: Basil Iwanyk, Erica Lee

East of Wall

Director/Producer: Kate Beecroft

Producers: Shannon Moss, Melanie Ramsayer, Lila Yacoub

Lurker

Director: Alex Russell

Producers: Galen Core, Archie Madekwe, Marc Marrie, Charlie McDowell, Francesco Melzi D’Eril, Duncan Montgomery, Alex Orlovsky, Olmo Schnabel, Jack Selby

One of Them Days

Director: Lawrence Lamont

Producers: Deniese Davis, Poppy Hanks, James Lopez, Issa Rae, Sara Rastogi

JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD – Given to the best feature made for under $1,000,000. (Award given to the writer, director and producer)

The Baltimorons

Director/Writer/Producer: Jay Duplass

Writer/Producer: Michael Strassner

Producers: David Bonnett Jr., Drew Langer

Boys Go to Jupiter

Director/Writer: Julian Glander

Eephus

Director/Writer/Producer: Carson Lund

Writer/Producer: Michael Basta

Writer: Nate Fisher

Producers: David Entin, Tyler Taormina

Esta Isla (This Island)

Directors/Writers/Producers: Cristian Carretero, Lorraine Jones Molina

Writer: Kisha Tikina Burgos

Familiar Touch

Director/Writer/Producer: Sarah Friedland

Producers: Alexandra Byer, Matthew Thurm

BEST DIRECTOR 

Clint Bentley

Train Dreams

Mary Bronstein

If I Had Legs I’d Kick You

Lloyd Lee Choi

Lucky Lu

Ira Sachs

Peter Hujar’s Day

Eva Victor

Sorry, Baby

BEST SCREENPLAY 

Michael Angelo Covino, Kyle Marvin

Splitsville

Angus MacLachlan

A Little Prayer

James Sweeney

Twinless

Christian Swegal

Sovereign

Eva Victor

Sorry, Baby

BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY 

Andrew DeYoung

Friendship

Elena Oxman

Outerlands

Alex Russell

Lurker

Syreeta Singleton

One of Them Days

Constance Tsang

Blue Sun Palace

BEST LEAD PERFORMANCE 

Everett Blunck

The Plague

Rose Byrne

If I Had Legs I’d Kick You

Kathleen Chalfant

Familiar Touch

Chang Chen

Lucky Lu

Joel Edgerton

Train Dreams

Dylan O’Brien

Twinless

Keke Palmer

One of Them Days

Théodore Pellerin

Lurker

Tessa Thompson

Hedda

Ben Whishaw

Peter Hujar’s Day

BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE 

Naomi Ackie

Sorry, Baby

Zoey Deutch

Nouvelle Vague

Kirsten Dunst

Roofman

Rebecca Hall

Peter Hujar’s Day

Nina Hoss

Hedda

Jane Levy

A Little Prayer

Archie Madekwe

Lurker

Kali Reis

Rebuilding

Jacob Tremblay

Sovereign

Haipeng Xu

Blue Sun Palace

BEST BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE

Liz Larsen

The Baltimorons

Misha Osherovich

She’s the He

Kayo Martin

The Plague

SZA

One of Them Days

Tabatha Zimiga

East of Wall

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY 

Alex Ashe

Peter Hujar’s Day

Norm Li

Blue Sun Palace

David J. Thompson

Warfare

Adolpho Veloso

Train Dreams

Nicole Hirsch Whitaker

Dust Bunny

BEST EDITING 

Ben Leonberg

Good Boy

Carson Lund

Eephus

Fin Oates

Warfare

Sara Shaw

Splitsville

Sofía Subercaseaux

The Testament of Ann Lee

ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD  (Award given to one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast)

The Long Walk

Director: Francis Lawrence

Casting Director: Rich Delia

Ensemble Cast: Judy Greer, Mark Hamill, Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, Tut Nyuot, Joshua Odjick, Charlie Plummer, Ben Wang, Garrett Wareing

BEST DOCUMENTARY (Award given to the director and producer)

Come See Me in the Good Light

Director/Producer: Ryan White

Producers: Jessica Hargrave, Tig Notaro, Stef Willen

Endless Cookie

Director: Peter Scriver

Director/Producer: Seth Scriver

Producers: Dan Bekerman, Alex Ordanis, Jason Ryle, Chris Yurkovich

My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air in Moscow

Director/Producer: Julia Loktev

The Perfect Neighbor

Director/Producer: Geeta Gandbhir

Producers: Sam Bisbee, Nikon Kwantu, Alisa Payne

The Tale of Silyan

Director/Producer: Tamara Kotevska

Producers: Jean Dakar, Anna Hashmi, Jordanco Petkovski

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM (Award given to the director)

All That’s Left of You

Palestine, Jordan, Germany, Cyprus

Director: Cherien Dabis

On Becoming a Guinea Fowl

Zambia, UK, Ireland

Director: Rungano Nyoni

A Poet

Colombia

Director: Simón Mesa Soto

The Secret Agent

Brazil

Director: Kleber Mendonça Filho

Sirāt

Spain

Director: Oliver Laxe

PRODUCERS AWARD  – The Producers Award, now in its 29th year, honors an emerging producer who, despite highly limited resources, demonstrates the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce quality independent films. This award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant.

Emma Hannaway

Luca Intili

Tony Yang

SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD  – The Someone to Watch Award, now in its 32nd year, recognizes a talented filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition. This award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant.

Tatti Ribeiro

Director of Valentina

Neo Sora

Director of Happyend

Annapurna Sriram

Director of Fucktoys

TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD – The Truer Than Fiction Award, now in its 31st year, is presented to an emerging director of non-fiction features who has not yet received significant recognition. This award includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant.

Tony Benna

Director of André is an Idiot

Rajee Samarasinghe

Director of Your Touch Makes Others Invisible

Brittany Shyne

Director of Seeds