2026 Windie Award winners named

**Windie Awards Master of Ceremonies and CIC Director Don Shanahan.**

“Sinners,” the smart horror blockbuster released in early 2025, took top honors at the Ninth Windie Awards ceremony, the annual awards program of Chicago Indie Critics, held January 15 at Chicago’s Blue Bayou Restaurant. In all, the film won 10 awards, including best studio film, best actor and best director, among other honors.

Winners were determined based on three rounds of voting by members of the organization (yours truly included). A complete list of the nominees on which the winners were voted is available by clicking here.

In addition to the 26 artistic and technical categories, CIC presented its annual Impact Award to Michael Phillips, former film critic of The Chicago Tribune. The award is given to an individual or organization in recognition of outstanding efforts that have had a positive influence on the Chicago area film community. Mr. Phillips frequently appeared on At the Movies with Ebert and Roeper from 2006 through 2008 before becoming a semi-regular host shortly before Roeper and Ebert ended their association with the series. He has also introduced over 100 feature films for Turner Classic Movies (TCM) over the years.

A video recording of the awards ceremony is available by clicking here. And a complete winners list appears below. Congratulations to the winners!

BEST INDEPENDENT FILM ‒“Train Dreams”

BEST STUDIO FILM ‒“Sinners”

BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM ‒“Sentimental Value”

BEST DOCUMENTARY ‒“John Candy: I Like Me”

BEST ANIMATED FILM ‒ “KPop Demon Hunters”

BEST DIRECTOR ‒ Ryan Coogler, “Sinners”

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY ‒ “Sinners”

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY ‒ “One Battle After Another”

BEST ACTOR ‒ Michael B. Jordan, “Sinners”

BEST ACTRESS ‒ Jessie Buckley, “Hamnet”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR ‒ Sean Penn, “One Battle After Another”

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS ‒ Amy Madigan, “Weapons”

BEST ENSEMBLE ‒ “Sinners”

BEST BREAKOUT PERFORMER ‒ Chase Infiniti, “One Battle After Another”

BEST BREAKOUT BEHIND-THE-SCENES ‒ Eva Victor, director, “Sorry, Baby”

BEST SIGHT UNSEEN PERFORMANCE ‒ Oona Chaplin, “Avatar: Fire and Ash”

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY ‒ “Sinners”

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN ‒ “Frankenstein”

BEST EDITING ‒ “Sinners”

BEST COSTUME DESIGN ‒ “Frankenstein”

BEST MAKEUP ‒ “Frankenstein”

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS ‒ “Avatar: Fire and Ash”

BEST STUNTS ‒ “Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning”

BEST SOUND ‒ “Sinners”

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE ‒ “Sinners”

BEST ORIGINAL SONG ‒ “I Lied to You,” “Sinners”

THE IMPACT AWARD ‒ Michael Phillips, former film critic, The Chicago Tribune