Film Independent, the nonprofit arts organisation “dedicated to fostering independence and inclusivity in visual storytelling”, announced the winners of its three Emerging Filmmaker Awards at its annual Spirit Awards Nominee Brunch held at the London West Hollywood.
Hannah Einbinder (Hacks) and Natasha Rothwell (White Lotus) served as hosts for the event and handed out the honours.
Winners for the remaining categories will be revealed at the 2026 Film Independent Spirit Awards on Sunday 15 February.
“Supporting independent artists and allowing them to pursue their visions without compromise is central to the mission of Film Independent, and the Emerging Filmmaker Awards have always been an essential tool towards achieving that goal,” said Brenda Robinson, acting president of Film Independent.
“We are incredibly proud to be able to help elevate these artists early in what are sure to be long and esteemed careers.”
Tatti Ribeiro, director of Valentina, received the Someone to Watch Award, which recognises “a talented first-time narrative filmmaker of singular vision who has not yet received appropriate recognition”.
The award, which is in its 32nd year, includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant. The finalists for the award included Neo Sora for Happyend and Annapurna Sriram for Fucktoys.
Rajee Samarasinghe, director of Your Touch Makes Others Invisible, received the Truer Than Fiction Award, which is presented to a first-time director of non-fiction features who has not received significant recognition.
The award is in its 31st year and includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant. Tony Benna for André Is an Idiot and Brittany Shyne for Seeds were also finalists for the award.
Tony Yang received the Producers Award, sponsored for the first time by Producers United.
The award honours emerging producers who, “despite highly limited resources, demonstrate the creativity, tenacity and vision required to produce quality independent films”.
The annual award, in its 29th year, includes a $25,000 unrestricted grant. Finalists were Emma Hannaway and Luca Intili.
The 2026 Film Independent Spirit Awards, MC’d by the recently announced host, Saturday Night Live alum Ego Nwodim, will take place next month.
The 41st annual show, held at the Hollywood Palladium, will be streamed live on the Film Independent and IMDb YouTube channels, as well as across other social platforms.
The Spirit Awards are the primary fundraiser for Film Independent’s year-round slate of programmes, which “cultivate the careers of emerging filmmakers and celebrate creative independence, diversity, innovation and uniqueness of vision in independent film and television”.
The nominees were announced by Film Independent last month.
