The 40th Film Independent Spirit Awards took place in Santa Monica on Feb. 22, with Aidy Bryant returning as host for the second year in a row.
The feeling that the 40th Film Independent Spirit Awards just didn’t feel the same was echoed over and over again. I turned my ear toward snippets of conversation. The assembled guests wore practiced smiles, but through clenched teeth, they expressed their worries—worries over California’s continued loss of television and media projects to other states and even other countries. Worries over the state of the current political climate in this country. Worries over the survival of independent film and the increasing challenges of expressing different opinions in a rapidly shifting landscape.
And then, there was the passing of the beloved Film Independent President Josh Welsh, who died on December 31, 2024, after a five-year battle with colon cancer. His impact was undeniable. When his name was called, the entire room rose to their feet in a standing ovation that lasted more than ten minutes. It wasn’t just about honoring his legacy; it was about acknowledging the uncertainty of what comes next.
In a private moment with Ahmir Khalib Thompson—better known as Questlove—I found myself gaining a new perspective on my creative journey. And in case you’ve been living under a proverbial rock, he is one of the most decorated figures in music, film, and literature. He has won six Grammy® Awards, an Academy Award® (Oscar®) for “Summer of Soul” (2022), a BAFTA® Award, a Peabody® Award, and an Emmy® Award as part of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon with The Roots.
Beyond his achievements in music and filmmaking, Questlove is also a prolific author, having written eight books, including Mo’ Meta Blues (2013), Soul Train: The Music, Dance, and Style of a Generation (2013), Something to Food About (2016), Creative Quest (2018), Music Is History (2021), The Rhythm of Time (2023, co-authored with S.A. Cosby), Hip-Hop Is History (2024), and an upcoming book (TBA). His ability to move seamlessly between music, storytelling, and cultural analysis makes him one of the most influential creative voices of our time.
But it was inside the Indie Spirit Awards tent that he shared something unexpected—a piece of wisdom so raw and real that I have been passing it along to every creative person I know who feels… lost.
He started with something simple yet striking:
“The human body has 73 trillion cells.”
I blinked.
He continued, encouraging me to step into positive affirmations daily, calling what some might call his ‘secret sauce’—a practice of self-love from the inside out.
As I stood there, rooted to the floor inside the Indie Spirit tent, I realized he was speaking a spiritual truth that I already understood but had perhaps needed to hear at that exact moment.
I did not tell him that at the time. No. I listened.
This man was dropping priceless advice, and I soaked it up like a sponge.
Metaphysical and spiritual perspectives view the 73 trillion cells in the human body as a reflection of divine intelligence, universal energy, and interconnectedness. Each cell is believed to carry the intelligence of creation itself, forming an infinite connection between humanity and the cosmos. Many traditions suggest that by aligning thoughts, emotions, and energy positively, we can activate and harmonize our cells for healing, manifestation, and higher consciousness.
And at that moment, standing in the middle of the Independent Spirit Awards, I understood something deeper than I had before:
Despite the uncertainty, despite the change, despite the losses—there is always creation, always connection, always movement forward.
The following is a complete list of the winners:
FILM CATEGORIES
Best Feature
Anora (NEON)
Producers: Sean Baker, Alex Coco, Samantha Quan
Best Director
Sean Baker, Anora (NEON)
Best Screenplay
Jesse Eisenberg, A Real Pain (Searchlight Pictures)
Best First Feature
Dìdi (Focus Features)
Director: Sean Wang
Producers: Valerie Bush, Carlos López Estrada, Josh Peters
Best First Screenplay
Sean Wang, Dìdi (Focus Features)
John Cassavetes Award
(for best feature made under $1,000,000)
Girls Will Be Girls (Juno Films)
Writer/Director/Producer: Shuchi Talati
Producers: Richa Chadha, Claire Chassagne
Best Breakthrough Performance
Maisy Stella, My Old Ass (Amazon MGM Studios)
Best Supporting Performance
Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain (Searchlight Pictures)
Best Lead Performance
Mikey Madison, Anora (NEON)
Robert Altman Award
His Three Daughters (Netflix)
Director: Azazel Jacobs
Casting Director: Nicole Arbusto
Ensemble Cast: Jovan Adepo, Jasmine Bracey, Carrie Coon, Jose Febus, Rudy Galvan, Natasha Lyonne, Elizabeth Olsen, Randy Ramos Jr., Jay O. Sanders
Best Cinematography
Jomo Fray, Nickel Boys (Amazon MGM Studios)
Best Editing
Hansjörg Weissbrich, September 5 (Paramount Pictures)
Best International Film
Flow (Sideshow and Janus Films)
Director: Gints Zilbalodis
Best Documentary
No Other Land
Director: Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Rachel Szor
Producer: Fabien Greenberg, Bård Kjøge Rønning
Someone to Watch
Sarah Friedland, Familiar Touch
Truer Than Fiction
Rachel Elizabeth Seed, A Photographic Memory
Producers Award
Sarah Winshall
TELEVISION CATEGORIES
Best New Scripted Series
Shōgun (FX)
Creators/Executive Producers: Rachel Kondo, Justin Marks
Executive Producers: Edward L. McDonnell, Michael De Luca, Michael Clavell
Co-Executive Producers: Shannon Goss, Andrew Macdonald, Allon Reich, Jamie Vega Wheeler
Best New Non-Scripted or Documentary Series
Hollywood Black (MGM+)
Executive Producers: Shayla Harris, Dave Sirulnick, Stacey Reiss, Jon Kamen, Justin Simien, Kyle Laursen, Forest Whitaker, Nina Yang Bongiovi, Jeffrey Schwarz, Amy Goodman Kass, Michael Wright, Jill Burkhard
Co-Executive Producers: David C. Brown, Laurens Grant
Best Supporting Performance in a New Scripted Series
Nava Mau, Baby Reindeer (Netflix)
Best Lead Performance in a New Scripted Series
Richard Gadd, Baby Reindeer (Netflix)
Best Breakthrough Performance in a New Scripted Series
Jessica Gunning, Baby Reindeer (Netflix)
Best Ensemble Cast in a New Scripted Series
How to Die Alone (Hulu)
Ensemble Cast: Melissa DuPrey, Jaylee Hamidi, KeiLyn Durrel Jones, Arkie Kandola, Elle Lorraine, Michelle McLeod, Chris “CP” Powell, Conrad Ricamora, Natasha Rothwell, Jocko Sims
“Anora” (WINNER)
“I Saw the TV Glow”
“Nickel Boys”
“Sing Sing”
“The Substance”
BEST FIRST FEATURE
“Dìdi” (WINNER)
“In the Summers”
“Janet Planet”
“The Piano Lesson”
“Problemista”
JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD – Given to the best feature made for under $1 million
“Big Boys”
“Ghostlight”
“Girls Will Be Girls” (WINNER)
“Jazzy”
“The People’s Joker”
BEST DIRECTOR
Ali Abbasi — “The Apprentice”
Sean Baker — “Anora” (WINNER)
Brady Corbet — “The Brutalist”
Alonso Ruizpalacios — “La Cocina”
Jane Schoenbrun — “I Saw the TV Glow”
BEST SCREENPLAY
Scott Beck, Bryan Woods — “Heretic”
Jesse Eisenberg — “A Real Pain” (WINNER)
Megan Park — “My Old Ass”
Aaron Schimberg — “A Different Man”
Jane Schoenbrun — “I Saw the TV Glow”
BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Joanna Arnow — “The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed”
Annie Baker — “Janet Planet”
India Donaldson — “Good One”
Julio Torres — “Problemista”
Sean Wang — “Dìdi” (WINNER)
BEST LEAD PERFORMANCE IN A FILM
Amy Adams — “Nightbitch”
Ryan Destiny — “The Fire Inside”
Colman Domingo — “Sing Sing”
Keith Kupferer — “Ghostlight”
Mikey Madison — “Anora” (WINNER)
Demi Moore — “The Substance”
Hunter Schafer — “Cuckoo”
Justice Smith — “I Saw the TV Glow”
June Squibb — “Thelma”
Sebastian Stan — “The Apprentice”
BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE IN A FILM
Yura Borisov — “Anora”
Joan Chen — “Dìdi”
Kieran Culkin — “A Real Pain” (WINNER)
Danielle Deadwyler — “The Piano Lesson”
Carol Kane — “Between the Temples”
Karren Karagulian — “Anora”
Kani Kusruti — “Girls Will Be Girls”
Jack Haven — “I Saw the TV Glow”
Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin — “Sing Sing”
Adam Pearson — “A Different Man”
BEST BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE IN A FILM
Isaac Krasner — “Big Boys”
Katy O’Brian — “Love Lies Bleeding”
Mason Alexander Park — “National Anthem”
René Pérez Joglar — “In the Summers”
Maisy Stella — “My Old Ass” (WINNER)
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Dinh Duy Hung — “Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell”
Jomo Fray — “Nickel Boys” (WINNER)
Maria von Hausswolff — “Janet Planet”
Juan Pablo Ramírez — “La Cocina”
Rina Yan — “The Fire Inside”
BEST EDITING
Laura Colwell, Vanara Taing — “Jazzy”
Olivier Bugge Coutté, Olivia Neergaard-Holm — “The Apprentice”
Anne McCabe — “Nightbitch”
Hansjörg Weissbrich — “September 5” (WINNER)
Arielle Zakowski — “Dìdi”
ROBERT ALTMAN AWARD – Given to one film’s director, casting director, and ensemble cast
His Three Daughters (WINNER)
BEST DOCUMENTARY
“Gaucho Gaucho”
“Hummingbirds”
“No Other Land” (WINNER)
“Patrice: The Movie”
“Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat”
BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
“All We Imagine as Light”
“Black Dog”
“Flow” (WINNER)
“Green Border”
“Hard Truths”
PRODUCERS AWARD
Alex Coco
Sarah Winshall — “I Saw the TV Glow” (WINNER)
Zoë Worth
SOMEONE TO WATCH AWARD
Nicholas Colia — “Griffin in Summer”
Sarah Friedland — “Familiar Touch” (WINNER)
Pham Thien An — “Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell”
TRUER THAN FICTION AWARD
Julian Brave NoiseCat, Emily Kassie — “Sugarcane”
Carla Gutiérrez — “Frida”
Rachel Elizabeth Seed — “A Photographic Memory” (WINNER)
BEST NEW NON-SCRIPTED OR DOCUMENTARY SERIES
“Erased: WW2’s Heroes of Color”
“Hollywood Black” (WINNER)
“Photographer”
“Ren Faire”
“Social Studies”
BEST NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
“Baby Reindeer”
“Diarra From Detroit”
“English Teacher”
“Fantasmas”
“Shōgun” (WINNER)
BEST LEAD PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
Brian Jordan Alvarez — “English Teacher”
Richard Gadd — “Baby Reindeer” (WINNER)
Lily Gladstone — “Under the Bridge”
Kathryn Hahn — “Agatha All Along”
Cristin Milioti – “The Penguin”
Julianne Moore — “Mary & George”
Hiroyuki Sanada — “Shōgun”
Anna Sawai — “Shōgun”
Andrew Scott — “Ripley”
Julio Torres — “Fantasmas”
BEST SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
Tadanobu Asano — “Shōgun”
Enrico Colantoni — “English Teacher”
Betty Gilpin — “Three Women”
Chloe Guidry — “Under the Bridge”
Moeka Hoshi — “Shōgun”
Stephanie Koenig — “English Teacher”
Patti LuPone — “Agatha All Along”
Nava Mau — “Baby Reindeer” (WINNER)
Ruth Negga — “Presumed Innocent”
Brian Tee — “Expats”
BEST BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
Jessica Gunning — “Baby Reindeer” (WINNER)
Diarra Kilpatrick — “Diarra From Detroit”
Joe Locke — “Agatha All Along”
Megan Stott — “Penelope”
Hoa Xuande — “The Sympathizer”
BEST ENSEMBLE CAST IN A NEW SCRIPTED SERIES
“How to Die Alone” (WINNER)
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