Inside IndieWire Honors, Where Creative Freedom and Community Offer a Path for a Rapidly Changing Industry

Our latest winter edition of IndieWire Honors, meant to celebrate the filmmakers, actors, and artisans responsible for some of the most exciting cinematic works of 2025, proved first to be a space where speakers reflected on their roots.

Whether it was “Jay Kelly” star Adam Sandler, recipient of the Vanguard Award, invoking his first film “Going Overboard,” which he booked the lead for three days into moving to Los Angeles, or “Frankenstein” star Jacob Elordi, there with his collaborator and creature designer Mike Hill to accept the Wavelength Award, reflecting on how early reviews of his performances meant a lot, “because I didn’t always make the best movies,” he joked.

After a cocktail hour featuring spirits from Laphroaig and Sipsmith, the awards ceremony was kicked off by IndieWire publisher James Israel and editor-in-chief Dana Harris-Bridson coming to the Nya Studios West stage to celebrate the crowd of mostly honorees and…