Get into the Spirits!

Awards season has entered full swing, and one of its most valuable gifts comes earliest: the nominee list for the Film Independent Spirit Awards. Join us to celebrate some of the year’s most interesting movies, as accomplished and provocative as the likely Oscar nominees, despite lower production and promotion budgets. Some showed at the 2024 or 2025 Chicago International Film Festivals before brief commercial runs; others never reached local theaters at all. Let’s make some fresh discoveries together!

Viewing Recommendations: If you like quiet, pensive character studies, either Sorry, Baby (multiple streaming services) or Train Dreams (Netflix). If you’re into flamboyant risk-taking, either If I Had Legs I’d Kick You or the animated documentary Endless Cookie (both on multiple services).