Don Shanahan
Entering their tenth year as a recognized awards-voting body and haven for film critics of diverse backgrounds and talents, the Chicago Indie Critics (CIC) have announced the 2026 winners of their Windie Awards. The voting film critic members completed their final 27-category ballots this past week. The Chicago Indie Critics presented their 2026 Windie Award winners on the evening of January 15th, 2025 at a private invitation-only Awards Party at Blue Bayou Chicago next to the famed Music Box Theatre. Film Obsessive Editor in Chief Don Shanahan is one of the founders and directors of the CIC. Film Obsessive staff writers Jay Rohr and Kevin Wozniak and contributing writers George Bate and Josh Bate are also full-voting members of Chicago Indie Critics.
Leading all nominated films with 10 total Windie Award wins is Ryan Coogler’s Sinners. Coogler received two individual wins in Best Director and Best Original Screenplay, and shared the prize of Best Studio Film as one of its producers – alongside his wife, Zinzi Coogler, and Sev Ohanian. Coogler’s longtime collaborator, Michael B. Jordan, took home Best Actor for his dual performance of the Moore Twins “Smoke” and “Stack”. Casting Director, Francine Maisler, won for assembling the lights-out cast in the Best Ensemble category, and Coogler-favorite, Ludwig Göransson, took home Best Score and shared the prize for Original Song for “I Lied to You.” Lastly, Sinners finished the day with wins in the technical categories of Editing, Cinematography, and Sound.
Guillermo del Toro’s take on Frankenstein earned the second-most wins with three, claiming victory in the craft categories of Production Design, Costume Design, and Makeup. The other two films to win multiple awards were Paul Thomas Anderson’s, One Battle After Another (Best Adapted Screenplay and Sean Penn in Best Supporting Actor), and James Cameron’s ultimate blockbuster, Avatar: Fire and Ash (Best Visual Effects, and Sight Unseen Performance for Oona Chaplin).
The winners were rounded out with Netflix’s Train Dreams in Best Independent Film, Neon’s Sentimental Value in Best International Film, Kpop Demon Hunters in Animated Film, and John Candy: I Like Me in Best Documentary. Amy Madigan is the sole representative for Weapons in Best Supporting Actress, and the daredevil team behind Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning took home the award for Best Stunts. Lastly, two individual awards for breakout work went to Chase Infiniti for her performance in One Battle After Another, and Eva Victor’s work behind the camera in Sorry, Baby. These are special wins considering both are graduates of Chicago schools – Columbia College Chicago (Infiniti) and Northwestern University (Victor)
In a special category of local recognition, the Chicago Indie Critics annually presents The Impact Award. The distinction celebrates a group or person whose work during the past year or beyond had a positive influence on the Chicagoland film community. This year’s Impact Award winner was Michael Phillips, former film critic of The Chicago Tribune. Michael has had a long and successful career in critical space. Mr. Phillips frequently appeared on At the Movies with Ebert and Roeper from 2006 through August 2008 before becoming a semi-regular host shortly before Roeper and Ebert ended their association with the series. Phillips has also introduced over 100 feature films for Turner Classic Movies (TCM). Phillps published his goodbye to the Chicago Tribune on August 24th, 2025. The proud voting body of the Chicago Indie Critics congratulates Mr. Phillips and all of the Windie Award winners.
COMPLETE LIST OF 2026 CIC WINDIE AWARD WINNERS:
BEST INDEPENDENT FILM
Train Dreams
Producers: Marissa McMahon, Teddy Schwarzman, Will Janowitz, Ashley Schlaifer, and Michael Heimler
BEST STUDIO FILM
Sinners
Producers: Zinzi Coogler, Sev Ohanian, and Ryan Coogler
BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
Sentimental Value
Producers: Maria Ekerhovd and Andrea Berentsen Ottmar
BEST DOCUMENTARY
John Candy: I Like Me
Producers: Colin Hanks, Johnny Pariseau, George Dewey, Shane Reid, Ryan Reynolds, Sean Stuart, and Glen Zipper
BEST ANIMATED FILM
KPop Demon Hunters
Producers: Maggie Kang, Chris Applehans, and Michelle Wong
BEST DIRECTOR
Ryan Coogler – Sinners
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Sinners – Ryan Coolger
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
One Battle After Another – Paul Thomas Anderson
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 – Francine Maisler
BEST BREAKOUT PERFORMER
Chase Infiniti – One Battle After Another
BREAKOUT BEHIND THE SCENES
Eva Victor – Sorry, Baby
SIGHT UNSEEN PERFORMANCE
Oona Chaplin – Avatar: Fire and Ash
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Sinners – Autumn Durald Arkapaw
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Frankenstein – Tamara Deverell
BEST EDITING
Sinners – Michael P. Shawver
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Frankenstein – Kate Hawley
BEST MAKEUP
Frankenstein – Mike Hill, Jordan Samuel, and Cliona Furey
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Avatar: Fire and Ash – Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon, and Daniel Barrett
BEST STUNTS
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning – Wade Eastwood
BEST SOUND
Sinners – Chris Welcker, Benny Burtt, Brandon Proctor, Steve Boeddeker, and Felipe Pacheco
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Sinners – Ludwig Goransson
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
“I Lied to You” – Sinners
Written by Raphael Saadiq and Ludwig Goransson
Performed by Miles Caton
THE IMPACT AWARD
Given to individual or group who has made a positive impact on local Chicago cinema
Michael Phillips – former film critic of The Chicago Tribune
ABOUT CHICAGO INDIE CRITICS
Chicago Indie Critics (CIC) is a creative and engaging not-for-profit organization composed of unique, dedicated, and diversified film critics organized by Illinois Indie Critics NFP. Our members are wide-ranging in experiences, backgrounds, tastes, diversities, and target audiences across both print and online platforms and publications. We have organized to share our personal assessments, commentaries, passions, and creativity in the vigilant effort to highlight the greatness and diversity found in both independent and mainstream films. While we originate in the Chicagoland area, the efforts of Chicago Indie Critics are to share, celebrate, and promote the rich artistic medium of film to audiences, fans, and eager minds across the nation and world as an exemplary and upstanding pillar of intelligent print and broadcast journalism.
Directors: Matt Kubinski, Don Shanahan, John Robinson
Members: Jim Alexander, Victor Aragon, Annie Banks, George Bate, Josh Bate, Noah Berlatsky, Leo Brady, Nicholas Caruso, Michael Cockerill, Mike Crowley, Bonnie De Shong, Tarek Fayoumi, Adam Freed, Everardo Garcia Jr., Cati Glidewell, Ryan Jagiello, April Klein, Marc Kozak, Dave Lane, James Y. Lee, Al Lerner, Linda Lerner, Alex Maidy, Brent Marchant, Kevin McLenithan, Curtis Menke, Mike Osborn, Dan Pal, Adam Patla, Reggie Ponder, Jay Rohr, Jordy Sirkin, Peter Spedale, El’Ahrai Stanek, Andrea Thompson, Kevin Wozniak, Jeff York, Nicholas Zednick
