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The Independent Spirit Awards Are Today. Here’s Everything You Need to Know

US actress Mikey Madison poses with the award for Best leading actress for "Anora" during the BAFTA British Academy Film Awards ceremony at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, in London, on February 16, 2025. (AFP)
US actress Mikey Madison poses with the award for Best leading actress for "Anora" during the BAFTA British Academy Film Awards ceremony at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, in London, on February 16, 2025. (AFP)
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The Independent Spirit Awards Are Today. Here’s Everything You Need to Know

US actress Mikey Madison poses with the award for Best leading actress for "Anora" during the BAFTA British Academy Film Awards ceremony at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, in London, on February 16, 2025. (AFP)
US actress Mikey Madison poses with the award for Best leading actress for "Anora" during the BAFTA British Academy Film Awards ceremony at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, in London, on February 16, 2025. (AFP)

Oscar nominees like Mikey Madison, Demi Moore and Sebastian Stan will be making a stop by the 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 and will be streamed live on IMDb and Film Independent’s YouTube channels. “Saturday Night Live” alum Aidy Bryant is returning to host for the second year.

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.

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 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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Entertainment

Netflix Announces 'Kpop Demon Hunters' Sequel

Figures from the "Kpop Demon Hunters" toy series are on display at Mattel's booth at the Nuremberg Toy Fair in Nuremberg, Germany, January 26, 2026. (Reuters)
Figures from the "Kpop Demon Hunters" toy series are on display at Mattel's booth at the Nuremberg Toy Fair in Nuremberg, Germany, January 26, 2026. (Reuters)
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Netflix Announces 'Kpop Demon Hunters' Sequel

Figures from the "Kpop Demon Hunters" toy series are on display at Mattel's booth at the Nuremberg Toy Fair in Nuremberg, Germany, January 26, 2026. (Reuters)
Figures from the "Kpop Demon Hunters" toy series are on display at Mattel's booth at the Nuremberg Toy Fair in Nuremberg, Germany, January 26, 2026. (Reuters)

Streaming giant Netflix announced on Friday it would release a sequel to "Kpop Demon Hunters", its most popular film of all time and a two-time Oscar nominee.

The animated film, about a K-pop girl group descended from demon slayers, is the latest Korean tale to enjoy global recognition.

"KPOP DEMON HUNTERS will return for a sequel written and directed by Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans," Netflix posted on X.

The film is nominated for two Academy Awards this Sunday - Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song.

Its hit track "Golden", which dominated music charts worldwide, also won Best Song Written for Visual Media, becoming the first K-pop song to win a Grammy.

Korean-Canadian director and writer Maggie Kang, who created the original and will also be in charge of the sequel, previously said that she wanted to "portray Korean culture authentically".

"I feel immense pride as a Korean filmmaker that the audience wants more from this Korean story and our Korean characters," Kang said, according to Netflix.

Launched in June last year, the film followed the critical success of other works exploring Korean and diasporic experiences, such as "Parasite", "Squid Game" and "Pachinko".

Entertainment

One Surprise after Another? Oscars Night Set to Be Unpredictable

An Oscars ceremony hosted by Conan O'Brien will feature several nail-biting reveals, culminating in the announcement of the year's best film, which remains anyone's guess. Frederic J. Brown / AFP
An Oscars ceremony hosted by Conan O'Brien will feature several nail-biting reveals, culminating in the announcement of the year's best film, which remains anyone's guess. Frederic J. Brown / AFP
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One Surprise after Another? Oscars Night Set to Be Unpredictable

An Oscars ceremony hosted by Conan O'Brien will feature several nail-biting reveals, culminating in the announcement of the year's best film, which remains anyone's guess. Frederic J. Brown / AFP
An Oscars ceremony hosted by Conan O'Brien will feature several nail-biting reveals, culminating in the announcement of the year's best film, which remains anyone's guess. Frederic J. Brown / AFP

With "Sinners" and "One Battle After Another" neck-and-neck for best picture and several acting races far too close to call, this Sunday's Oscars gala is shaping up to be the most unpredictable in years.

A Hollywood ceremony set to feature music from "KPop Demon Hunters" and Conan O'Brien as host will feature several nail-biting reveals, culminating in the announcement of the year's best film, which remains anyone's guess.

Until "the final envelope is opened for best picture, we're not going to know who's going to win," said Variety's awards columnist Clayton Davis.

"Both have a huge opportunity in order to break multiple Oscar records," he told AFP.

"Sinners," a smash-hit vampire period horror film from director Ryan Coogler, has already made Academy Awards history with its whopping 16 nominations.

The blues-inflected race allegory has a chance to chase down the most Oscar wins by a single movie, shared at 11 between "Ben-Hur,Titanic" and "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King."

Coogler, previously best known for "Black Panther," could become the first ever Black person to win best director, in the 98 years of Oscars history.

"He's only the seventh ever nominated," noted Davis, who spoke to many Oscars voters and says "the love for Coogler is undeniable."

But the frontrunner of this awards season has long been "One Battle," a zany thriller about a retired revolutionary looking for his teen daughter.

Set against a wild backdrop of radical violence, immigration raids and white supremacists, it earned 13 nods and could also break the overall wins record.

Its director Paul Thomas Anderson is one of the greatest auteurs of 21st century US cinema, but has never won any of his 11 previous nominations for films including "There Will Be Blood" and "Boogie Nights."

Though "Sinners" was the bigger commercial hit, the exciting race between two "popular movies that people will know at home" should be good for ratings, Davis predicted.

'Steamroller'

While suspense about best picture doesn't happen every year, what is truly unusual this time is the amount of uncertainty surrounding the acting prizes.

A year after narrowly losing best actor honors with his uncanny Bob Dylan portrayal in "A Complete Unknown," Timothee Chalamet had long appeared a lock for his pushy ping-pong player "Marty Supreme."

But a series of ill-advised comments, most recently dismissing ballet and opera as art forms that "no one cares about," have seen the 30-year-old golden boy's chances plummet.

"Sinners" star Michael B Jordan, who plays two roles as twin brothers, won the important Screen Actors Guild's Actor Award this month, just before Oscars voting closed.

"This is a movie star performance that we don't get very often... he's really two steps away from the finish line," said Davis, who also does not rule out Leonardo DiCaprio ("One Battle") or Ethan Hawke ("Blue Moon").

The supporting acting prizes are also up for grabs.

Sean Penn could win a third acting Oscar for his comic yet terrifying soldier in "One Battle."

But he is up against international arthouse favorite Stellan Skarsgard ("Sentimental Value") and veteran Delroy Lindo, earning his first Oscar nod at 73 for "Sinners."

Supporting actress could see a rare horror villain role rewarded for Amy Madigan in "Weapons," or go to "One Battle" revolutionary Teyana Taylor or "Sinners" Hoodoo healer Wunmi Mosaku.

The only sure thing appears to be Jessie Buckley, who plays William Shakespeare's wife in "Hamnet."

"It's been the steamroller all season. That's the one thing you could take to the bank," said Davis

KPop, Redford tributes

Best international film is arguably the hardest to call of all, with Norwegian family drama "Sentimental Value" up against Brazil's surreal political thriller "The Secret Agent."

O'Brien returns to host the Oscars for a second year running, while Barbra Streisand is rumored to be singing a tribute to her "The Way We Were" co-star Robert Redford, who died in September.

Ejae, Audrey Nuna and Rei Ami, the singing voices behind "KPop Demon Hunters" fictional girl group HUNTR/X, will perform the Netflix smash film's Oscar-nominated song "Golden."

The Oscars will air live on ABC and Hulu from 4:00 pm in Los Angeles (2300 GMT).

Entertainment

Dudamel Says Chalamet Shows Ignorance in Claiming ‘No One Cares’ About Opera and Ballet

New York Philharmonic music and artistic director Gustavo Dudamel appears at a special screening of "El Canto de las Manos" in New York on Nov. 7, 2025. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
New York Philharmonic music and artistic director Gustavo Dudamel appears at a special screening of "El Canto de las Manos" in New York on Nov. 7, 2025. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
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Dudamel Says Chalamet Shows Ignorance in Claiming ‘No One Cares’ About Opera and Ballet

New York Philharmonic music and artistic director Gustavo Dudamel appears at a special screening of "El Canto de las Manos" in New York on Nov. 7, 2025. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)
New York Philharmonic music and artistic director Gustavo Dudamel appears at a special screening of "El Canto de las Manos" in New York on Nov. 7, 2025. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

Famed conductor Gustavo Dudamel said Timothee Chalamet showed ignorance when the Oscar-nominated actor claimed “no one cares” about opera and ballet.

“Sadly sometimes it’s a little bit of ignorance but, look, that is why we have to open more spaces for people to connect with classical music,” Dudamel said Tuesday night at an event to announce the programming of his first season as the New York Philharmonic's music director.

Dudamel spoke from the stage of Lincoln Center's David Geffen to an audience that included donors, musicians, the orchestra board, community leaders and composers in addition to journalists. Dudamel's remarks sparked loud applause.

During a conversation with fellow actor Matthew McConaughey at a CNN and Variety town hall at the University of Texas at Austin’s Moody College of Communication in February, the 30-year-old Chalamet was asked by McConaughey about whether shortened audience attention spans have impacted studio decisions about the content of theatrical films, forcing more early action.

“I admire people, and I’ve done it myself, to go on a talk show and go: Hey, we’ve got to keep movie theaters alive. We got to keep this genre alive,’” Chalamet said. “And another part of me feels like if people want to see it, like 'Barbie,' like 'Oppenheimer,' they’re going to go see it and go out of their way to be loud and proud about it. And I don’t want to be working in ballet or opera or things where it's like where it’s like, ‘Hey! Keep this thing alive,’ even though no one cares about this anymore. All respect to the ballet and opera people out there. I just lost 14 cents in viewership.”

Chalamet received his third Academy Award nomination, for “Marty Supreme.” His comments sparked an online backlash from arts organizations.

“Everybody has the right to say, but you have to do things with knowledge, with facts. I think we have to say to the young generation, the opposite,” Dudamel said. “It’s very funny. Cinema is a result of opera, of music, of all of these kind of things.”

Matías Tarnopolsky, the New York Philharmonic CEO, was seated next to Dudamel and issued a public offer to Chalamet.

“He can sit with me anytime,” Tarnopolsky said. “I’ll give him a free ticket and he’s invited to come and hear the New York Philharmonic.”

Dudamel, 45, is among the world's most famous conductors. He is leaving the Los Angeles Philharmonic this summer after 17 seasons as music director to become the music director of the New York orchestra.

At one point, Dudamel feigned not knowing Chalamet, saying: “Which is the name of that?” before cutting off as the audience laughed.

“That way of thinking has to end,” he said. “Music is reborn all the time and it brings us the values of empathy through the beauty of what it is. So this is the reality of music. This is the real dimension of music and we need that more for our young people.”