How to Watch the 41st Independent Spirit Awards Live

Entertainment NewsFilmSpirit AwardsFilm FestivalAwards SeasonAwardsNominationsWhat To WatchLos AngelesPress ReleaseLiveEventsIndependent Film

Feb 15

Written By Jonathan P. Moustakas

Here’s everything you need to know before the Indie Spirits kick off, from start time to major nominees.

Awards season continues to accelerate this weekend as the 41st Independent Spirit Awards prepare to spotlight the year’s most acclaimed indie film and television achievements. Long considered one of the industry’s most reliable indicators of emerging prestige contenders, the ceremony arrives at a moment when several Oscar and Emmy hopefuls are still building momentum.

Unlike many awards shows locked behind paywalls, this year’s Indie Spirits will be widely accessible for viewers at home. The ceremony will stream live on YouTube, making it one of the easiest major awards events of the season to follow in real time. Fans can tune in via both IMDb’s official YouTube channel and Film Independent’s YouTube channel when the broadcast begins.

The 2026 ceremony will be hosted by Ego Nwodim, bringing a comedic edge to an event that traditionally balances laid-back indie energy with increasingly high-stakes awards implications. The show begins Sunday, Feb. 15 at 2:00 p.m. PT / 5:00 p.m. ET, positioning it squarely in the heart of the Valentine’s Day awards corridor.

On the film side, several titles already familiar to awards watchers are expected to dominate the conversation. Academy Award Best Picture nominee Train Dreams is among the most prominent contenders, landing nominations for Best Feature, Best Director for Clint Bentley, Best Lead Performance for Joel Edgerton, and Best Cinematography for Adolpho Veloso. Rose Byrne also remains firmly in the awards mix with a Best Lead Performance nomination for If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, while filmmaker Mary Bronstein earned a Best Director nod for the same project.

International crossover titles are also well represented. The Secret Agent and Sirât both appear in the Spirit Awards lineup after their visibility in the Academy Awards’ international race, joining All That’s Left of You, On Becoming a Guinea Fowl, and A Poet. In documentary, Come See Me in the Good Light and The Perfect Neighbor return to the conversation alongside Endless Cookie, My Undesirable Friends: Part I — Last Air in Moscow, and The Tale of Silyan.

Among the broader indie field, Peter Hujar’s Day leads the nominations tally with five mentions, while Blue Sun Palace, Lurker, One of Them Days, Sorry, Baby, and Train Dreams each secured four nominations. The Best Feature race also includes Twinless and The Plague, signaling a typically eclectic Spirit Awards lineup that mixes buzzy contenders with under-the-radar discoveries.

Television categories are similarly competitive this year. Netflix’s Adolescence emerged as a major player with four nominations, including Best New Scripted Series and acting recognition for Stephen Graham, Erin Doherty, and Owen Cooper. HBO Max’s The Pitt also made a strong showing with nominations for Noah Wyle and Taylor Dearden, while Seth Rogen joined the Best Lead Performance race for The Studio.

Elsewhere, Michelle Williams and Jenny Slate both scored nominations for Dying for Sex, and additional series including Forever, Mr. Loverman, Alien: Earth, Deli Boys, and North of North helped round out the TV field.

POPULAR ON THE CINEMA GROUP

Several special honors have already been announced ahead of the ceremony. Tony Yang received the Producers Award, Rajee Samarasinghe was named the recipient of the Someone to Watch Award, and Tatti Ribeiro earned the Truer Than Fiction Award. Meanwhile, The Long Walk will receive the prestigious Robert Altman Award recognizing its ensemble, director, and casting team.

With Oscar voting momentum still in flux and the indie landscape more competitive than ever, this year’s Independent Spirit Awards could once again serve as a key bellwether for the remainder of awards season.