Spirit Awards – Clint Bentley’s ‘Train Dreams’ Tops With 3 Wins, Best Feature

Train Dreams led the film categories at the 2026 Film Independent Spirit Awards, with three wins for Best Feature, Best Director for Clint Bentley, and Best Cinematography for Adolpho Veloso.

Other top film awards went to Rose Byrne for Best Lead Performance for If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, Sorry, Baby won Best Supporting Performance for Naomi Ackie and Best Screenplay for Eva Victor; Lurker won Best First Feature and Best First Screenplay for Alex Russell; Kayo Martin won Best Breakthrough Performance for The Plague; The Secret Agent won Best International Film; The Perfect Neighbor won Best Documentary; and Sofía Subercaseaux won Best Editing for The Testament of Ann Lee.

Esta Isla (This Island) was honored with the John Cassavetes Award, given to the best feature made for under $1,000,000.

In the television categories, this year’s major winner was Adolescence, which won four awards, the most for any television show since the Spirit Awards began honoring the medium in 2021. Other top television winners included Pee-wee as Himself, which won Best New Non-Scripted or Documentary Series.

The 18th annual Robert Altman Award for ensemble casts was awarded to The Long Walk director Francis Lawrence, alongside casting director Rich Delia, as well as ensemble cast members Judy Greer, Mark Hamill, Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, Tut Nyuot, Joshua Odjick, Charlie Plummer, Ben Wang, and Garrett Wareing.

Also celebrated were Tatti Ribeiro of Valentina for winning the Someone to Watch Award, Rajee Samarasinghe of Your Touch Makes Others Invisible with the Truer Than Fiction Award, and Tony Yang with the Producers Award.

2026 Film Independent Spirit Awards Winners

FILM CATEGORIES

Best Feature
Train Dreams (Netflix)
Producers: Michael Heimler, Will Janowitz, Marissa McMahon, Ashley Schlaifer, Teddy Schwarzman

Best Director
Clint Bentley, Train Dreams (Netflix)

Best Screenplay
Eva Victor, Sorry, Baby (A24)

Best First Feature
Lurker (MUBI)
Director: Alex Russell
Producers: Galen Core, Archie Madekwe, Marc Marrie, Charlie McDowell, Francesco Melzi D’Eril, Duncan Montgomery, Alex Orlovsky, Olmo Schnabel, Jack Selby

Best First Screenplay
Alex Russell, Lurker (MUBI)

John Cassavetes Award
(for best feature made under $1,000,000)
Esta Isla (This Island)
Writers/Directors/Producers: Cristian Carretero, Lorraine Jones Molina
Writer: Kisha Tikina Burgos

Best Breakthrough Performance
Kayo Martin, The Plague (Independent Film Company)

Best Supporting Performance
Naomi Ackie, Sorry, Baby (A24)

Best Lead Performance
Rose Byrne, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You (A24)

Robert Altman Award
The Long Walk (Lionsgate)
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 Cinematography
Adolpho Veloso, Train Dreams (Netflix)

Best Editing
Sofía Subercaseaux, The Testament of Ann Lee (Searchlight Pictures)

Best International Film
The Secret Agent (NEON)
Director: Kleber Mendonça Filho

Best Documentary
The Perfect Neighbor (Netflix)
Director/Producer: Geeta Gandbhir
Producers: Sam Bisbee, Nikon Kwantu, Alisa Payne

Someone to Watch Award
Tatti Ribeiro, Valentina

Truer Than Fiction Award
Rajee Samarasinghe, Your Touch Makes Others Invisible

Producers Award presented by Producers United
Tony Yang

TELEVISION CATEGORIES

Best New Scripted Series
Adolescence (Netflix)
Creators/Executive Producers: Jack Thorne, Stephen Graham
Executive Producers: Philip Barantini, Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Nina Wolarsky, Hannah Walters, Mark Herbert, Emily Feller
Co-Executive Producers: Carina Sposato, Niall Shamma, Peter Balm

Best New Non-Scripted or Documentary Series
Pee-wee as Himself (HBO Max)
Executive Producers: Matt Wolf, Emma Tillinger Koskoff, Ronald Bronstein, Eli Bush, Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie, Paul Reubens, Candace Tomarken, Kyle Martin, Nancy Abraham, Lisa Heller, Sara Rodriguez

Best Breakthrough Performance in a New Scripted Series
Owen Cooper, Adolescence (Netflix)

Best Supporting Performance in a New Scripted Series
Erin Doherty, Adolescence (Netflix)

Best Lead Performance in a New Scripted Series
Stephen Graham, Adolescence (Netflix)

Best Ensemble Cast in a New Scripted Series
Chief of War (Apple TV)
Ensemble Cast: Charlie Brumbly, Luciane Buchanan, Cliff Curtis, Brandon Finn, Moses Goods, Te Ao o Hinepehinga, Benjamin Hoetjes, Siua Ikale’o, Keala Kahuanui-Paleka, Mainei Kinimaka, Kaina Makua, Jason Momoa, Temuera Morrison, Te Kohe Tuhaka, James Udom