Leave it to the indie film crowd to add some spice to the weekend.
During an awards season in which many boldfaced names have been playing it safe when it comes to weighing in on hot button cultural and political issues — not counting Guillermo del Toro who shouted “fuck AI” at New York’s Gotham Awards — the handful of boldfaced names who made it to the podium at Saturday’s Spirit Awards brunch did not shy away from sharing their passionate takes.
But first, official business: Film Independent brought its typically beachside act to the London West Hollywood to host Spirit Award nominees for an airy rooftop brunch. (For years, Santa Monica hosted the brunch at Casa Del Mar and the Spirit Awards in a tent on the beach.) Aside from serving up avocado toast, tacos and Lavazza espresso martinis, the org doled out $75,000 in grants to emerging artists. Hannah Einbinder and Natasha Rothwell teamed to announce the winners in front of a starry crowd that included Ethan Hawke, Zoey Deutch, Joel Edgerton, Dylan O’Brien, Stephen Graham, Erin Doherty, Rebecca Hall, Kyle Marvin, Jane Levy and Tig Notaro, and the team from Come See Me in the Good Light.
“What’s up freaks,” the Hacks Emmy Award-winning star said in greeting the crowd. “How are we feeling? Are we on a frequency all together as one?” Rothwell certainly was. After exchanging compliments, she said to Einbinder, “I’m going to touch myself later and think about you.”
Film Independent acting president was thinking about the rollercoaster that was 2025. “Last year we endured quite a moment and we are just so grateful that we were able to navigate the many things happening in the world and even within the industry with all of you. We’re emerging now with greater energy, with greater purpose. And we are very excited to be in the brighter days ahead that we knew were waiting for us.”
It was a bright day for Tony Yang who won the first prize of the afternoon, the Producers Award sponsored for the first time by Producers United. Finalists for the honor, which comes with a $25,000 unrestricted grant, included Emma Hannaway and Luca Intili.
“Being a producer to me has always meant creating the best possible environment for everyone around me to succeed, for the people around me to feel the most creative, most free to do their best work. And the key word here is people — not ChatGPT, not generative AI, not Tilly Norwood,” Yang said in his acceptance speech. “It is the real people here and the real independent filmmakers in this room that inspire me and continue to inspire audiences with their works of art. There’s no greater community than ours that harnesses the power of storytelling into its most vulnerable, raw and authentic form.”
Yang’s comments prompted Rothwell, when she returned to the podium to present the next award, to say, “We are going to keep things moving but before we do, I just gotta say fuck Tilly Norwood.” She received loud cheers for the proclamation.
Up next came Rajee Samarasinghe, director of Your Touch Makes Others Invisible, who received the Truer Than Fiction Award presented to a first-time director of nonfiction features “who has not received significant recognition.” It comes with a $25,000 unrestricted grant, and Samarasinghe bested Tony Benna for André is an Idiot and Brittany Shyne for Seeds.
He also came with a timely statement tied to his movie. “It’s a film about enforced disappearances and state violence in my home country of Sri Lanka. I really want to dedicate this to the women who shared their testimonies in the film and demonstrated such courage,” Samarasinghe said. “We live in a moment where abuses of power are so commonplace and it’s so important to keep fighting this power and to stand with those who are most vulnerable.”
The last award of the afternoon — the Someone to Watch Award with an unrestricted $25,000 grant — went to Tatti Ribeiro, director of Valentina. Her fellow nominees included Neo Sora for Happyend and Annapurna Sriram for Fucktoys. Ribeiro revealed she didn’t write a speech because “my movie’s not out yet,” but she still managed to find an exclamation point for her remarks. “Thank God for immigrants. That’s all.”
But there was more. Rothwell and Einbinder (who posted a strongly worded statement on Instagram denouncing ICE in the wake of the killing of Renee Good in Minneapolis by stating “none of us are safe”) then led the crowd in a champagne toast. “We didn’t imbibe before this, so you guys are ahead of us,” Rothwell said as Einbinder added, “I have a little bit of a Benadryl allergy and a microdose in my system, I won’t lie.”
The Spirit Awards will be hosted by Saturday Night Live alum Ego Nwodim on Feb. 15. It will be a milestone occasion as the 41st annual show moves from its longtime home on Santa Monica Beach into the heart of Hollywood at the Palladium. The show is set to stream live on YouTube on both the Film Independent and IMDb channels. Spirit Awards are supported by premier sponsor Lavazza Coffee, principal sponsor IMDbPro and official sponsor FIJI Water with support this year from Pepsi, accessibility partner Easterseals Disability Services and official hotels London West Hollywood and W Hollywood.
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