Film Independent Spirit Awards 2026: See full winners list

Kevin Winter/Getty

The 2026Film Independent Spirit Awards, celebrating the best indie films and television series of the last year, have been announced.

Sunday's 41st annual ceremony, hosted bySaturday Night LivealumEgo Nwodim, traded in its usual beachfront venue at the Santa Monica Pier for Los Angeles' Hollywood Palladium, due to renovations.

Netflix filmTrain Dreamstook the top award, as well as Best Director and Best Cinematography. To be eligible for the Spirit Awards, a movie's budgetcannot exceed $30 millionafter tax incentives. Recent top winners that have aligned with the Oscars' Best Picture victors includeNomadland,Everything Everywhere All at Once, andAnora.

In the television categories, Emmys and Golden Globes darlingAdolescenceswept the awards, winning in each of the four categories in which it was nominated.

Two awards were already revealed prior to the ceremony, withThe Long Walkwinning the Robert Altman Award, including honors for director Francis Lawrence and starsJudy Greer,Mark Hamill,Cooper Hoffman, David Jonsson, Tut Nyuot, Joshua Odjick, Charlie Plummer, Ben Wang, and Garrett Wareing; and Best Ensemble Cast in a New Scripted Series, going toJason Momoa'sChief of War,also starring Charlie Brumbly, Luciane Buchanan, Cliff Curtis, Brandon Finn, Moses Goods, Te Ao o Hinepehinga, Benjamin Hoetjes, Siua Ikale'o, Keala Kahuanui-Paleka, Mainei Kinimaka, Kaina Makua, Temuera Morrison, Te Kohe Tuhaka, and James Udom.

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See the full list of winners for the 2026 Film Independent Spirit Awards below.

2026 Film Independent Spirit Awards winners

Movies

Courtesy of Netflix

Best Feature

Peter Hujar's DayThe PlagueSorry, BabyWINNER:Train DreamsTwinless

Best Director

WINNER: Clint Bentley,Train DreamsMary Bronstein,If I Had Legs I'd Kick YouLloyd Lee Choi,Lucky LuIra Sachs,Peter Hujar's DayEva Victor,Sorry, Baby

Best First Feature

Blue Sun PalaceDust BunnyEast of WallWINNER:LurkerOne of Them Days

Best Lead Performance

Everett Blunck,The PlagueWINNER: Rose Byrne,If I Had Legs I'd Kick YouKathleen Chalfant,Familiar TouchChang Chen,Lucky LuJoel Edgerton,Train DreamsDylan O'Brien,TwinlessKeke Palmer,One of Them DaysThéodore Pellerin,LurkerTessa Thompson,HeddaBen Whishaw,Peter Hujar's Day

Best Supporting Performance

WINNER: Naomi Ackie,Sorry, BabyZoey Deutch,Nouvelle VagueKirsten Dunst,RoofmanRebecca Hall,Peter Hujar's DayNina Hoss,HeddaJane Levy,A Little PrayerArchie Madekwe,LurkerKali Reis,RebuildingJacob Tremblay,SovereignHaipeng Xu,Blue Sun Palace

Best Breakthrough Performance

Liz Larsen,The BaltimoronsWINNER: Kayo Martin,The PlagueMisha Osherovich,She's the HeSZA,One of Them DaysTabatha Zimiga,East of Wall

Best Screenplay

A Little PrayerWINNER:Sorry, BabySovereignSplitsvilleTwinless

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Best First Screenplay

Blue Sun PalaceFriendshipWINNER:LurkerOne of Them DaysOuterlands

Best Cinematography

Blue Sun PalaceDust BunnyPeter Hujar's DayWINNER:Train DreamsWarfare

Best Editing

EephusGood BoySplitsvilleWINNER:The Testament of Ann LeeWarfare

Best Documentary

Come See Me in the Good LightEndless CookieMy Undesirable Friends: Part 1 — Last Air in MoscowWINNER:The Perfect NeighborThe Tale of Silyan

Best International Film

All That's Left of YouOn Becoming a Guinea FowlA PoetWINNER:The Secret AgentSirāt

Robert Altman Award

WINNER: The cast, casting director, and director ofThe Long Walk

Someone to Watch Award

WINNER: Tatti RibeiroNeo SoraAnnapurna Sriram

Truer Than Fiction Award

Tony BennaWINNER: Rajee SamarasingheBrittany Shyne

John Cassavetes Award

The BaltimoronsBoys Go to JupiterEephusWINNER:Esta IslaFamiliar Touch

Producers Award

Emma HannawayLuca IntiliWINNER: Tony Yang

Television

Courtesy of Netflix

Best New Scripted Series

WINNER:AdolescenceCommon Side EffectsForeverMr. LovermanNorth of North

Best New Non-Scripted or Documentary Series

Citizen NationHurricane Katrina: Race Against TimeWINNER:Pee-Wee As HimselfSeen & Heard: The History of Black TelevisionVow of Silence: The Assassination of Annie Mae

Best Lead Performance in a New Scripted Series

Sydney Chandler,Alien: EarthWINNER: Stephen Graham,AdolescenceEthan Hawke,The LowdownLennie James,Mr. LovermanAnna Lambe,North of NorthLola Petticrew,Say NothingSeth Rogen,The StudioLovie Simone,ForeverMichelle Williams,Dying for SexNoah Wyle,The Pitt

Best Supporting Performance in a New Scripted Series

Ariyon Bakare,Mr. LovermanBabou Ceesay,Alien: EarthSharon D. Clarke,Mr. LovermanTaylor Dearden,The PittWINNER: Erin Doherty,AdolescenceStephen McKinley Henderson,A Man on the InsidePoorna Jagannathan,Deli BoysXosha Roquemore,ForeverJenny Slate,Dying for SexBen Whishaw,Black Doves

Best Breakthrough Performance in a New Scripted Series

Asif Ali,Deli BoysWally Baram,OvercompensatingWINNER: Owen Cooper,AdolescenceMichael Cooper Jr.,ForeverErnest Kingsley Junior,Washington Black

Best Ensemble Cast in a New Scripted Series

WINNER:Chief of War

Read the original article onEntertainment Weekly

byCustos Caelorum

in

February 16, 2026

Film Independent Spirit Awards 2026: See full winners list

Kevin Winter/Getty The 2026Film Independent Spirit Awards, celebrating the best indie films and television s...

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Iran meets UN nuclear watchdog in Geneva ahead of a second round of US talks

GENEVA (AP) — Iran's top diplomat met with the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency on Monday, ahead of a second round of negotiations with the United States over Tehran's nuclear program.

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi met with Rafael Grossi, director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and said he would also meet with Foreign Minister Badr al-Busaidi of Oman, which is hosting the U.S.-Iran talks in Geneva on Tuesday.

"I am in Geneva with real ideas to achieve a fair and equitable deal," Araghchi wrote on X. "What is not on the table: submission before threats."

As U.S. President Donald Trump ordered an additional aircraft carrier to the region, Iran on Monday launched a second naval drill in weeks, state TV reported. It said the drill would test Iran's intelligence and operational capabilities in the Strait of Hormuz, the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman.

Iran's drills take place against the US military buildup

Just before the talks, Iran announced its paramilitary Revolutionary Guard started the drill early Monday morning in the waterways that arecrucial international trade routesthrough which20% of the world's oil passes.

Separately, EOS Risk Group said sailors passing through the region received by radio a warning that the northern lane of the Strait of Hormuz, in Iranian territorial waters, likely would see a live-fire drill Tuesday. Iranian state TV did not mention the live fire drill.

This is the second time in recent weeks sailors have received warning about an Iranian live fire drill. During the previous exercise, announced at the end of January, the U.S. military's Central Command issued a strongly worded warning to Iran and the Revolutionary Guard. While acknowledging Iran's "right to operate professionally in international airspace and waters," it warned against interfering or threatening American warships or passing commercial vessels.

On Feb. 4,tensions between the Iranian and U.S. naviesrose further after a U.S. Navy fighter jet shot down an Iranian drone that was approachingthe aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincolnin the Arabian Sea. Iran also harassed a U.S.-flagged and U.S.-crewed merchant vessel that was sailing in the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. military reported.

Iran open to compromise in exchange for sanctions relief

On Sunday, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Majid Takht-Ravanchi signaled that Tehran could be open to compromise on the nuclear issue, but is looking for an easing of international sanctions led by the United States.

"The ball is in America's court. They have to prove they want to have a deal with us," Takht-Ravanchi told the BBC. "If we see a sincerity on their part, I am sure that we will be on a road to have an agreement."

"We are ready to discuss this and other issues related to our program provided that they are also ready to talk about the sanctions," he added.

Oman hosted a first round ofindirect talksbetween the U.S. and Iran on Feb. 6.

Similar talks last year between the U.S. and Iran about Iran's nuclear program broke down after Israel launched what became a12-day war on Iran, that included theU.S. bombing Iranian nuclear sites.

TheU.S. is also hosting talksbetween envoys from Russia and Ukrainein Geneva on Tuesday and Wednesday, days ahead of the fourth anniversary of theall-out Russian invasion of its neighbor.

US keeps military pressure high

Trump initially threatened to take military action overIran's bloody crackdown on nationwide protestslast month, but then shifted to a pressure campaign in recent weeks to try to get Tehran to makea deal over its nuclear program.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, visiting Budapest, reiterated on Monday that the U.S. hopes to achieve a deal with Iran, despite the difficulties. "I'm not going to prejudge these talks," Rubio said. "The president always prefers peaceful outcomes and negotiated outcomes to things."

Trump said Friday the USS Gerald R. Ford, the world's largest aircraft carrier, was being sent from the Caribbean to the Mideast to joinother military assetsthe U.S. has built up in the region. He also said a change in power in Iran "would be the best thing that could happen."

Iran has said if the U.S. attacks, it will respond with an attack of its own.

The Trump administration has maintained that Iran can have no uranium enrichment under any deal. Tehran says it won't agree to that.

Iran has insisted its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes. However, its officialsincreasingly threaten to pursue a nuclear weapon. Before the June war, Iran had been enriching uranium up to 60% purity, a short, technical step away from weapons-grade levels.

The direct meeting with Grossi is a significant step after Iransuspended all cooperation with the IAEAfollowing the June war with Israel. The two also met briefly on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in September. The IAEA saidit has been unable to verify the statusof Iran's near weapons-grade uranium stockpile since the war. Iran has allowed IAEA some access to sites that were not damaged, but has not allowed inspectors to visit other sites.

Iran's stockpile of uranium enriched to 60% could allow Iran to build as many as 10 nuclear bombs, should it decide to weaponize its program,Grossi previously told The Associated Press.He added that it doesn't mean that Iran has such a weapon.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rushed to Washington last week to urge Trump to ensure that any deal to include steps to neutralizeIran's ballistic missile programand end its funding for proxy groups such as Hamas and Hezbollah.

Liechtenstein reported from Vienna. Associated Press writers Melanie Lidman in Tel Aviv, Israel, and Matthew Lee in Budapest, Hungary contributed to this report.

The Associated Press receives support for nuclear security coverage fromthe Carnegie Corporation of New YorkandOutrider Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Additional AP coverage of the nuclear landscape:https://apnews.com/projects/the-new-nuclear-landscape/

byCustos Caelorum

in

February 16, 2026

Iran meets UN nuclear watchdog in Geneva ahead of a second round of US talks

GENEVA (AP) — Iran's top diplomat met with the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency on Monday, ahead of a second...

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Brooklyn Beckham catches wrath for 'weird' Valentine's Day post amid family war

Brooklyn Beckham was still reeling with love for his wife one day after Cupid shot his arrow.

David and Victoria Beckham'soldest son admitted he was the "luckiest person in the world" in a kissing snap with Nicola Peltz shared on social media Sunday.

The Internet was set alight with Brooklyn's innocent public display of affection weeks after the budding chefaired his family dramain a manifesto posted online.

Brooklyn, 26, showed off his arsenal of artwork in the black-and-white photo where he kissed his bride.

Gordon Ramsay Denies Brooklyn Beckham's Wedding Dance Allegations Against Victoria Beckham

"Happy Valentine's Day baby," Brooklyn wrote. "I am the luckiest person in the world to be able to call you my valentines every year x I love you more than you know and I will forever protect and love you x."

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Cruz Beckham's Nostalgic Post Ignites Social Frenzy Amid Brooklyn Family Feud: 'Did You Contact His Lawyer'

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Social media users raised questions about the post, and had a few notes for Brooklyn.

"Am I the only one who thinks this is weird?" one user asked, while another offered, "First of all, use seasonings in your cooking. Secondly, call your parents."

One fan simply asked, "Didn't youguys want privacy?" One user noted, "A woman who pulls you away from your family root does not love you."

"Only a day late, daddy must've taken his Rolex back," another follower said.

One fan advocated for the couple, and encouraged users to remember the joys of innocent affection.

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"They are young they are in love leave them alone! Young love is indestructible don't you all remember yours," they wrote.

Last month, Brooklyn became the center of the storm and confirmed a longstanding war within his family in a lengthy statementshared on social mediawhere he explained how his parents "controlled narratives" throughout his life in an attempt "to preserve" a functioning family facade.

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Prior to the bombshell statement, the 26-year-old photographer reportedly sent his parents alegal "desist" letter,informing them they could only speak to him and his wife via lawyers. The Sun reported that the letter instructed his parents not to mention him or his wife on social media.

In his January social media post, Brooklyn made accusations that his parents had tried to sabotage his marriage to claims that Victoria canceled making Peltz's wedding dress at the "eleventh hour."

"My family values public promotion and endorsements above all else," Brooklyn stated in the public rant shared on Instagram Jan. 19. "Brand Beckham comes first."

"My wife and I do not want a life shaped by image, press, or manipulation. All we want peace, privacy and happiness for us and our future family," Brooklyn's lengthy statement concluded.

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In addition to Brooklyn, 26, the former Spice Girls member and her husband, David Beckham, are also parents to sons Romeo, 23, and Cruz, 20, and daughter Harper, 14, all of whom Brooklyn has blocked on social media.

Original article source:Brooklyn Beckham catches wrath for 'weird' Valentine's Day post amid family war

byCustos Caelorum

in

February 16, 2026

Brooklyn Beckham catches wrath for 'weird' Valentine's Day post amid family war

Brooklyn Beckham was still reeling with love for his wife one day after Cupid shot his arrow. David and Victor...

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Chinese fine dining slices through America's takeout-food stereotypes

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Taiwan-born chef George Chen, whose family immigrated to Los Angeles in 1967, remembers vividly how his school lunch of braised pork and Chinese sauerkraut between two pieces of bread was looked at by his classmates.

Chinese American Fine Dining

"'Oh, God, what are you eating? That's gross,'" Chen recalled during a recent busy lunch hour at his San Francisco restaurant and bar, China Live, on the edge ofthe nation's oldest Chinatown. "And now everybody wants the braised pork and Chinese sauerkraut. Hopefully, perception of Chinese (food) has now come a long ways."

The immigrant kid who felt like he had to hide his food has built a reputation for serving Chinese fine dining in the Bay Area. At China Live, Chen is like a circus ringmaster overseeing a dumpling-making station, a stone oven roasting Peking ducks, a noodle station and a dessert station churning sesame soft serve.

With all this, he hopes to one day revive his upstairs restaurant, Eight Tables, where course-by-course dinners ranged from $88-$188. In addition, he and his wife Cindy Wong-Chen are getting ready to launch a similar concept, Asia Live, in Santa Clara.

The Chens aren't the only ones elevating Chinese cuisine. They're within walking distance of the equally established Empress by Boon, Mister Jiu's, and the newer Four Kings.

Upscale Chinese American restaurants, from San Francisco to New York City, have sprung up in recent years, garnering buzz with their refined tasting menus that soar far beyond Chinese takeout-food staples. Many will put special spins on traditionalLunar New Yeardishes for the Year of the Fire Horse, which starts Tuesday. Doing creative deconstructions of Chinese foods is part of their culinary hallmark, as many chefs are hungry to showcase their own culture.

But in an industry where diners rarely question high prices of French haute cuisine or Japanese omakase, Chinese restaurateurs often contend with resistance in getting customers to pay fine-dining tabs. Still, these owners and chefs insist their food, labor and cooking techniques are just as worthy.

"Why shouldn't I?" says Chen about his prices. "Just because we're in Chinatown? Or just because people's perception of Chinese food is that it's only good if it's cheap? It's not true."

Being a Chinese chef who gets to cook Chinese

Since husband and wife Bolun and Linette Yao opened Yingtao, named for Bolun's grandmother, in New York's Hell's Kitchen in 2023, they have been up-front about their mission: "contemporary" Chinese food as an elegant dining concept. Their Michelin-starred restaurant offers a $150 chef's tasting menu.

"We are trying to break this bias, this boundary of people who only think about like Sichuan food, Cantonese food, the takeout box," said Bolun Yao, who has nothing but respect for casual Chinese takeout restaurants.

After earning a master's degree in food studies at New York University, Yao knew he wanted "to build a bridge between traditional Chinese and the fine dining scene that New York people are familiar with."

Emily Yuen, who was a James Beard Award semifinalist last year for her Japanese American fare at Brooklyn's Lingo, is helping Yao achieve his goal as Yingtao's new executive chef. For Yuen, a Chinese Canadian whose culinary education emphasized French cooking, the importance of representation — from who's in the kitchen to what's on the plate — has always stayed with her.

"I want go back to like, who I am, and kind of explore that," Yuen said. "I was really like struck by his (Bolun's) mission statement and it just really struck a chord with me of wanting to elevate Chinese culture and Chinese food."

She is eager to play around with typical recipes like the Cantonese custard egg tart, "dan tat," with a savory makeover with caviar and quail eggs. "Egg on egg on egg," Yuen said.

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Similarly, Ho Chee Boon, the Michelin-starred chef who transformed the long-dormant Empress of China in San Francisco into Empress by Boon in 2021, is pushing for Chinese cuisine to be considered fine dining in the U.S. The Malaysia-born restauranteur was accustomed to seeing high-end Cantonese food in China and India.

"I try to do something for the Cantonese cuisine and for the culture as well, for the young people and to know about and for other people to know about it," said Boon, who has opened a chain of his Cantonese Hakkasan restaurants from Dubai to Mumbai and in the U.S.

"We can try to something better here," he said, "and let people come back to Chinatown."

Chinese food's stigmatized US history

Chinese culture and food has had its ups and downs when it comes to its reception in the West. More than 200 years ago, Europe highly desired Chinese silks, ceramics and tea, said Krishnendu Ray, director of NYU's food studies PhD program.

China's defeat by the British in the 19th century Opium Wars led to a view of China "as a poor country," Ray said. Racist myths that Chinese people and their cuisine were strange and dirty persisted when Chinese railroad laborers came to the U.S. and were segregated to enclaves.

Even today,Asian American restaurants have been impacted by tired stereotypes.

Ray says the rise in an "ethnic" food's prestige tends to correlate with its country of origin rising in economic power. In Michelin's New York City guides — which highlight between 300 and 400 restaurants — Ray found the percentage of Chinese regional cuisine went from 3% to 7% of mentions between 2006 and 2024.

"I think it's wonderful that there are these restaurants now" in Chinatown, said Luke Tsai, food editor for the San Francisco Bay Area PBS station KQED. "It's fine also if you don't think it is worth it. But at the same time, I'm really glad that these restaurants exist."

Don't call it 'fusion'

Many Chinese chefs want to make it clear they are not serving fusion, or food tinged with Asian influences. Their food is "more East to West rather than West to East," said Chen, of China Live. Yuen, of Yingtao, agrees that kind of characterization puts the "fusion" in confusion.

"I think fusion food is in a lot of those places where it's dimly lit with the trendy cocktails," Yuen said. "What we're trying to do is just Chinese."

What also matters to these chefs is incorporating Chinese cooking techniques and not defaulting to European ones. At Empress by Boon, chef Boon and his staff maintain four wok stations with woks shipped from Hong Kong.

"We want to do exactly everything the same operation," Boon said. "We want to keep the traditional, but we can look in a modern way."

Chen takes pride in having an open kitchen where customers can see woks and clay pots being utilized. They represent techniques from various regions of China.

"You actually look at the greater culinary disciplines of China and because you have the space, you can showcase the cuisine," Chen said. "I think that's really served us well."

byCustos Caelorum

in

February 16, 2026

Chinese fine dining slices through America's takeout-food stereotypes

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Taiwan-born chef George Chen, whose family immigrated to Los Angeles in 1967, remembers vividly how...

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Billy Joel's 'Chick Song' That Got The Seal of Approval From This Legendary '70s Female Rocker

Billy Joelwas at a pivotal moment while recording his iconic albumThe Stranger, and it took the encouragement of a legendary '70s female rocker to include what would become one of the LP's most beloved songs.

In a 2008 interview withMassLive, Joel shared how the fate of "Just The Way You Are" hung in the balance until two famous female singers,Linda RonstadtandPhoebe Snow, gave the song their overwhelming stamp of approval. Their input convinced Joel the tune was worth taking a chance on.

"We just went in to make as good a record as we could. I didn't think at the time it was going to be a big commercial hit," Joel said ofThe Stranger. "Just The Way You Are" was written for his first wife, manager, and muse,Elizabeth Webber.

"I don't really know what's going to be a big commercial hit. We almost left 'Just The Way You Are' off the album because we really didn't like it that much. But some girls talked us into leaving it on."

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He explained that the "girls" were Snow and Ronstadt, who heard the track and said, "'You guys are crazy, you've gotta keep that on the album.' We said 'Yeah? Well, ok.'"

Joel added, "I guess girls like that song. It's a chick song."

"Before we went in to recordThe Stranger, I think I had 'Just The Way You Are,' but we did not have the right drum pattern for it. I think we had it as a cha-cha, which made us hate the song right off the bat."

Joel worried the song was too sentimental and feared it would stick out from the rest of the album. However, the LP's producerPhil Ramoneinsisted it was a must-have. To prove his point, he invited Ronstadt and Snow into the studio to listen to the song and sway Joel's opinion of the tune.

The Strangerwould go on to become Billy Joel's best-selling album. It was certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America, with sales over 10M albums.

PerBillboard, the LP spawned four Top 40 hits: "Just the Way You Are" (No. 3), "Movin' Out" (No. 17), "She's Always a Woman" (No. 17), and "Only the Good Die Young" (No. 24).

This story was originally published byParadeon Feb 15, 2026, where it first appeared in theNewssection. Add Parade as aPreferred Source by clicking here.

byCustos Caelorum

in

February 16, 2026

Billy Joel's 'Chick Song' That Got The Seal of Approval From This Legendary '70s Female Rocker

Billy Joelwas at a pivotal moment while recording his iconic albumThe Stranger, and it took the encouragement of a legen...

Read More