A little bit of a catch-up on how the 2026 awards season has been going, as a couple of major awards have been handed out in the last few weeks. Here's all the news you may have missed:
DIRECTORS GUILD AWARDS
On Saturday 7th February 2026, the Directors' Guild Awards (DGA) were handed out. The film winners are:
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Films: Paul Thomas Anderson (One Battle After Another)
Michael Apted Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in First-Time Theatrical Feature Film: Charlie Polinger (The Plague)
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary: Mstyslav Chernov (2000 Meters To Andriivka)
This didn't feel like a surprise, to be honest. Anderson has been a standout winner throughout this awards season (and rightly so), so it feels like another step on the path to Oscar night.
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INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARDS
On Sunday 15th February 2026, the 41st Film Independent Spirit Awards- recognising films made wholly or partly outside the traditional studio system- took place.
Here's a full list of film winners.
Best Feature: Train Dreams
Best Lead Performance: Rose Byrne (If I Had Legs I'd Kick You)
Best Supporting Performance: Naomi Ackie (Sorry, Baby)
Best Breakthrough Performance: Kayo Martin (The Plague)
Best Director: Clint Bentley (Train Dreams)
Best Screenplay: Eva Victor (Sorry, Baby)
Best First Screenplay: Alex Russell (Lurker)
Best Cinematography: Train Dreams
Best Editing: The Testament Of Ann Lee
Best First Feature: Lurker
Best International Film: The Secret Agent
Best Documentary: The Perfect Neighbor
John Cassavetes Award: This Island (Esta Isla)
Robert Altman Award: The Long Walk
The John Cassavetes Award is given to the creative team of a film budgeted at less than $1 million, whilst the Robert Altman Award is presented to the ensemble cast of the movie, its director, and its casting director(s).
Train Dreams was the big winner of the evening with three awards, whilst Sorry, Baby and Lurker walked away with two apiece. Despite multiple nominations, Peter Hujar's Day, Blue Sun Palace, One Of Them Days and Twinless didn't win anything.
Congratulations to all winners!
The next major awards news will come this weekend (Sunday 22nd February) with this year's BAFTA Film Awards. I'll update on those as soon as I can after the ceremony.
