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The Independent Spirit Awards are today. Here’s everything you need to know

[February 22, 2025] By LINDSEY BAHR

Oscar nominees like Mikey Madison, Demi Moore and Sebastian Stan will be making a stop the by beach Saturday for the Film Independent Spirit Awards. The annual awards ceremony is the shaggier, more irreverent sister to the Academy Awards, celebrating the best in independent film and television.

Here’s everything you need to know.

What are the Independent Spirit Awards?

The Film Independent Spirit Awards (sometimes casually referred to as the Indie Spirits) have been celebrating the best in independent film for 40 years. For many years, the show, put on by the nonprofit organization Film Independent, took place the day before the Oscars but it’s recently shifted timing away from that busy weekend.

Awards are voted on by Film Independent Members, a group that includes filmmakers, industry leaders and passionate fans. The awards limit eligibility to productions with budgets of $30 million or less, meaning more expensive productions like “Wicked” and “Dune: Part Two” are not in the running. Television categories were added in 2021.

When and where are the Spirit Awards?

The Spirit Awards will be held on Saturday in Santa Monica, California, in a tent next to the beach. The show begins at 5 p.m. ET.

How to watch the Spirit Awards

The Spirit Awards will be streamed live on IMDb and Film Independent’s YouTube channels.

Who’s hosting?

“Saturday Night Live” alum Aidy Bryant is returning to host for the second year. Last year she referred to the show as the “bisexual Oscars.”

Who are the top nominees?

Oscar front-runner “Anora” is one of the most nominated films of the night, as is Jane Schoenbrun’s psychological horror “I Saw the TV Glow.” Both got six nominations, including best feature and best director.

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This image released by Neon shows Mark Eydelshteyn, left, and Mikey Madison in a scene from "Anora." (Neon via AP)

Also nominated for best feature film were RaMell Ross’ adaptation of Colson Whitehead's “Nickel Boys,” Greg Kwedar’s incarceration drama “Sing Sing” and Coralie Fargeat’s body horror “The Substance.”

Acting categories for the Spirit Awards are gender neutral and include 10 spots each.

Lead actor nominees are: Amy Adams (“Nightbitch”); Colman Domingo (“Sing Sing”); Mikey Madison (“Anora”); Demi Moore (“The Substance”); Sebastian Stan (“The Apprentice”); June Squibb (“Thelma”); Hunter Schafer (“Cuckoo”); Keith Kupferer (“Ghostlight”); Ryan Destiny (“The Fire Inside”); and Justice Smith (“I Saw the TV Glow”).

Supporting acting nominees are: Kieran Culkin (“A Real Pain”); Carol Kane (“Between the Temples”); Clarence Maclin (“Sing Sing”); Adam Pearson (“A Different Man”); Joan Chen (“Dìdi”); Danielle Deadwyler (“The Piano Lesson”); Jack Haven (“I Saw the TV Glow”); Kani Kusruti (“Girls Will Be Girls”); Yura Borisov (“Anora”); and Karren Karagulian (“Anora”).

The Spirit Awards also recognize new fiction and nonfiction television series, where nominees include the Netflix phenomenon “Baby Reindeer,” “Shōgun” and “Ren Fair.”

How will it impact the Oscars?

The winners will not have any impact on the Oscars, as the voting window closed earlier this week. Some years, the Spirit Awards significantly overlap with eventual Oscar winners, as in the year of “Everything Everywhere All At Once.” Other times, it doesn’t. Last year’s big awards season champion “Oppenheimer” was too expensive to qualify, and the top Spirit Awards winners were “Past Lives” and “American Fiction.”

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