Independent Spirit Awards: 'Anora,' 'Girls Will Be Girls' win honors
What's the story
The indie romantic comedy, Anora, swept the 40th annual Film Independent Spirit Awards on Saturday night (US time).
The film won three of the biggest awards: Best Feature, Best Lead Performance for Mikey Madison, and Best Director for Sean Baker.
These wins come after Anora's recent victories at the Critics Choice Awards and Producers Guild Awards where it also won Best Picture.
Additional accolades
'Anora' team's winning streak extended beyond Spirit Awards
The winning streak didn't end with the Spirit Awards for Anora. Baker was also awarded the Best Director trophy at the 2025 Directors Guild of America Awards.
Meanwhile, Madison took home the Best Actress award at the British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards.
She is also nominated for Outstanding Female Actor in a Lead Role at the upcoming 2025 SAG Awards and the 2025 Oscars.
'Girls Will Be Girls'
India's 'Girls Will Be Girls' also won special honor
Shuchi Talati's Girls Will Be Girls, a film made under $1 million, won the John Cassavetes Award.
It stars Kani Kusruti and Preeti Panigrahi and is produced by Ali Fazal and Richa Chadha as their debut production venture.
A coming-of-age story, it's streaming on Amazon Prime Video.
Separately, Hansjörg Weissbrich clinched Best Editing for September 5 and Best International Feature was bagged by Flow.
The Robert Altman Award went to His Three Daughters.
Other winners
'A Real Pain' and 'Baby Reindeer' also won
A Real Pain clinched Best Screenplay (Jesse Eisenberg) and Best Supporting Performance (Kieran Culkin).
On the TV side, Shogun won the Best New Scripted Series.
Baby Reindeer swept the New Scripted Series category with Richard Gadd winning Best Lead Performance, Nava Mau winning Best Supporting Performance, and Jessica Gunning winning Best Breakthrough Performance.
Best Ensemble Cast In A New Scripted Series went to How to Die Alone and Best New Non-Scripted Or Documentary Series went to Hollywood Black.
More laureates
'Didi' and 'Nickel Boys' among other Spirit Awards recipients
Directed and produced by Sean Wang, Didi won Best First Feature. Wang also bagged the award for Best First Screenplay.
Jomo Fray won the award for Best Cinematography for Nickel Boys.
In the documentary category, No Other Land was the winner.
Best Breakthrough Performance (Film) went to Maisy Stella for My Old Ass.
The Someone To Watch Award was clinched by Sarah Friedland and the Truer Than Fiction Award was bagged by Rachel Elizabeth Seed, who helmed A Photographic Memory.