Since 1993, the Film Independent Spirit Awards have been held at Santa Monica State Beach, and the dreamy California coast couldn't be a more appropriate vibe for the unique award season event that's all about shining a spotlight on some of the most interesting voices in cinema. Mixing up the film world's indie glitterati is one of the most intriguing details of the Spirit Awards. Where else are you likely to see John Waters and Cate Blanchett share approving glances over their fiercely abstract ensembles from across the red carpet?!
This year, several innovative creatives with ties to the Sundance Institute will make the rounds at the awards show, as 20 incredible Sundance-supported projects have been nominated for the 40th edition of the Film Independent Spirit Awards. From Jesse Eisenberg's witty A Real Pain to Megan Park's charming My Old Ass, Mark Duplass and Mel Eslyn's inspiring series Penelope, and gripping documentaries Gaucho Gaucho and Sugarcane - all of which premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival - we're so excited to see so many compelling works in the mix. We're also thrilled to see that Sarah Winshall, the producer of I Saw the TV Glow, will be getting the Producers Award.
Topping the list with five nominations (along with Anora from Sundance Institute alum Sean Baker) is Jane Schoenbrun's I Saw the TV Glow, which stars Justice Smith, who is nominated for Best Lead Performance, and Brigette Lundy-Paine. Another 2024 Fest premiere, it secured noms for Best Feature and Best Directors, among others. Championing emerging filmmakers - and those who can make masterpieces on a budget - the Spirit Awards don't nominate projects that cost more than $30 million to produce, so all of the projects recognized are shining examples of creative independence.
Below, see the complete list of all the Sundance-supported projects nominated for the Film Independent Spirit Awards, hosted by actor Aidy Bryant and taking place on Saturday, February 22, 2025 at Santa Monica State Beach and prepare to root for the nominees when the show streams live on the IMDb and Film Independent YouTube channels.
Most recent headlines
09/11/2025
Dalet today announced a transformative leap forward for media operations: Agentic Artificial Intelligence (AI) that unifies the Dalet ecosystem under one natura...
07/11/2025
PARIS Ateme said it has been working with Spain-based multinational telco Telef nica to deploy a cloud-native media processing platform for next-generation vide...
07/11/2025
The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers has announced it will hold its annual meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 10, via a Zoom webinar at 11 a.m. ET....
07/11/2025
NEW YORK The Coalition for Innovative Media Measurement (CIMM) and TVB have released a study examining how local viewing is measured across television, mobile d...
07/11/2025
LONG ISLAND CITY, N.Y. Altice USA announced it will change its corporate name to Optimum Communications Inc., effective Nov. 7. The company will cease trading u...
07/11/2025
07 11 2025 - Media release Screen Australia announces Gillian Moody-Ardler as Head of First Nations Content
Gillian Moody-Ardler. Photo credit: Sally Flegg. ...
06/11/2025
Media organisations from across the globe are uniting to promote media and information literacy (MIL) to help ensure their future survival and win back the trus...
06/11/2025
SVG Sit-Down: Athlos NYC CEO Kayla Green on Building the Brand of the Young Trac...
06/11/2025
ESPN Exits ESPN BET Deal With PENN, Goes Into Business With DraftKingsDraftKings will integrate innovative fan experiences' across ESPN platforms and DTC s...
06/11/2025
SVG New Sponsor Spotlight: Voyage Audio's Colin Ritchie on How the Spatial M...
06/11/2025
Ben Whishaw at the premiere of Peter Hujar's Day (photo by Robin Marshall / Shutterstock for Sundance Film Festival)
By Bailey Pennick
The premise is si...
06/11/2025
At Spotify, we're always finding new ways to bring you closer to the music that moves you, turning sound into something personal. From the playlists that ma...
06/11/2025
O mundo est ouvindo a Am rica Latina. Os artistas da regi o est o constantement...
06/11/2025
The world is listening to Latin America. The region's artists are consistent...
06/11/2025
El mundo est escuchando a Latinoam rica. Los artistas de la regi n marcan const...
06/11/2025
After nine months of fiscal year 2025, SGL Carbon generated sales of 652.9 million, down 16.5% on the previous year (9M 2024: 781.9 million). This is attribut...
06/11/2025
Contact information:
Miriam Johnson, Website Lead, Fotoware Group
miriam.johnson@fotoware.com
Oslo, October 2025: As part of our brand unification, the Pic...
06/11/2025
Calrec's 36-fader Argo M in Steiger Media's newly equipped OB truck parked outside the venue will showcase a live remote workflow connected to the Calre...
06/11/2025
With nearly 50% of streamers willing to cancel a service based on difficulty fin...
06/11/2025
BRISTOL, Conn., and BOSTON ESPN and DraftKings today announced an agreement naming DraftKings the sports programmer's exclusive official sportsbook and odds...
06/11/2025
MELVILLE, N.Y. Canon USA has launched the CR-N400 and CR-N350, two new Pan-Tilt-Zoom (PTZ) cameras designed to deliver high image quality, versatile connectivit...
06/11/2025
NEW YORK Fox Sports said its coverage of the Los Angeles Dodgers' win over the Toronto Blue Jays in the decisive Game 7 of the 2025 World Series delivered 2...
06/11/2025
NEW YORK DoubleVerify and Roku, Inc. are reporting that they have seen a marked reduction in fraudulent ad requests imitating Roku device traffic across the s...
06/11/2025
CAMBRIDGE, England Faced with rising inflation and worries that the economy is weakening, consumers are prioritizing their spending on popular streaming service...
06/11/2025
STAMFORD, Conn. NBC Sports is mounting mics in unconventional places to bring the sounds of NASCAR into the living rooms of sports fans....
06/11/2025
BRANSON, Mo. Link Electronics has partnered with Aberdeen Broadcast Services to provide a real-time, dual-stream translation and captioning service....
06/11/2025
Venture will deploy and commercialize Level-4 autonomous driving technologies
P...
06/11/2025
Strategic execution and operational optimization lay foundation for sustainable growth
Space Services returns to growth following Thuraya-4 start of operations...
06/11/2025
06 Nov 2025
VEON Appoints Sebastian Rice as General Counsel Vitaly Shmakov promoted to the newly created Chief Investment Officer role
Dubai, November 6, 2025...
06/11/2025
Telos Alliance Partners to Showcase Professional Audio Processing and Next-Gen ...
06/11/2025
The prequel to the Sky Original mob crime saga is a six-part drama tracking the ...
06/11/2025
The six-part drama, set in a close-knit Welsh town fractured by an unspeakable c...
06/11/2025
Rohde & Schwarz at productronica 2025: Innovation and production - hand in hand As a trusted partner for electronics manufacturing, Rohde & Schwarz will prese...
06/11/2025
Back to All News
Mystery Thriller The Price of Confession' Starring Jeon D...
06/11/2025
The company will highlight its recent ecosystem expansions and strategic innovat...
06/11/2025
Red Seat Ventures Announces Partnership with Renowned Entrepreneur, Author and M...
06/11/2025
We're delighted to announce the appointment of Max Mehta and Mark Fannon as Junior Systems Engineers, further strengthening our growing Technology team.
Ma...
06/11/2025
RT Announces Alex Walden as General Manager of the
RTE Concert Orchestra
Alex Walden, renowned orchestra manager, most recently for the BBC Concert Orche...
06/11/2025
Actors Steve Coogan and anna Hardwicke will be on the Late Late Show this week ...
06/11/2025
In the third episode of The 2 Johnnies Late Night Lock In actor Danny O'Carr...
06/11/2025
NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang and chief scientist Bill Dally were honored ...
06/11/2025
Editor's note: This blog has been updated to reflect the correct launch date for Call of Duty: Black Ops 7', November 14.
A crisp chill's in the...
06/11/2025
Scripps Research team identifies sugar molecules that trigger placental formation Study reveals how sugar-protein interactions are critical for the placenta dur...
05/11/2025
College Hoops Preview 2025: ESPN Remote-Ops Team Preps for Massive Slate of Men&...
05/11/2025
University of Iowa Centralizes Video Production With Dual Control Rooms at Carve...
05/11/2025
On Monday night, Ed Sheeran and Spotify lit up The Royal Dublin Society in Dublin for a one-night-only performance. The occasion? The third installment of Billi...
05/11/2025
Cumbia has long been woven into daily life in Argentina, and its popularity on S...
05/11/2025
La cumbia forma parte del d a a d a de los argentinos desde siempre, y su popula...
05/11/2025
Earlier this year, our in-house publishing imprint, Spotify Audiobooks, put out ...
05/11/2025
SBS showcases next generation of pro cyclists in extended broadcast deal with Pr...
Since 1993, the Film Independent Spirit Awards have been held at Santa Monica State Beach, and the dreamy California coast couldn't be a more appropriate vibe for the unique award season event that's all about shining a spotlight on some of the most interesting voices in cinema. Mixing up the film world's indie glitterati is one of the most intriguing details of the Spirit Awards. Where else are you likely to see John Waters and Cate Blanchett share approving glances over their fiercely abstract ensembles from across the red carpet?! 
