Whether or not you plan to watch along when the 2026 Spirit Awards air this Sunday, February 15 (or later), Elysia will walk you through everything you need to know: what's nominated in what categories, what overlaps are there with the Oscars, and what hidden gems might you want to check out.

Chapters

Emerging Filmmaker Awards jury prizes (00:02:40)
Special Awards jury prizes (00:18:44)
Best Feature categories (00:31:10)
First Feature categories (00:53:48)
Acting categories for film (01:05:38)
Technical categories (01:19:50)
Documentary (01:31:10)
International (01:40:18)
TV awards (01:47:00)
Top 10 films (01:54:44)

Elysia's top 10 Spirit Awards films for Lorehounds

Twinless (Hulu, VoD)
Lurker (Mubi, VoD)
The Long Walk (Starz, VoD)
Fucktoys
Splitsville (Hulu, VoD)
The Baltimorons (AMC+, VoD)
One of Them Days (Netflix)
Hedda (Prime)
A Poet
Tie: The Plague (VoD) & On Becoming a Guinea Fowl (HBO, VoD)

Find the full list of Spirit Award nominees here

The 41st Independent Spirit Awards will air Sunday, February 15, 2025 at 5 pm ET – watch on YouTube as it airs and join us in the Lorehounds Discord (see linktree) for a live-watch chat!

Check your extended stats (including the Spirit Awards and jury prize nominees) on DeathRaceTracking.com

Spirit Award nominees covered

The Baltimorons (ContraZoom blog)

Friendship (Properly Howard podcast)

For subscribers:

If I Had Legs I Would Kick You (Leiden IFF – WhachaWachin)

Fucktoys (Imagine Fantastic FF – WhachaWachin)

Non-Oscars awards coverage

BAFTA longlisted shorts

Independent Spirit Awards preview (this episode)

BAFTAs preview

Oscars 2026 coverage

Nominations + Best Picture preview

Live-Action, Animated, & Documentary Shorts

Production Design, Costumes, Makeup & Hair

International Features

Documentary Features

Animated Features

Score & Original Song

Cinematography, Editing, Sound, VFX

Director, Original & Adapted Screenplay

Lead & Supporting Actor & Actress, Casting

Ceremony reactions + Best Picture rankings

Deep dives into 2026 Oscar nominees

Sinners

One Battle After Another – pt. 1, pt. 2, pt. 3

Frankenstein

Weapons

Shorts: “Two People Exchanging Saliva,” “Jane Austen’s Period Drama,” “The Singers,” “Retirement Plan,” and “The Girl Who Cried Pearls”

For subscribers: Leiden IFF – WhachaWachin (Sentimental Value, If I Had Legs I Would Kick You, and Arco)

Revisit Oscars 2024 & 2025: links in these show notes

Contact Us

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Independent Spirit Awards 2026 preview – Awards Season Bonus