Spirit Awards: Clint Bentley Says ‘Train Dreams’ Is About “All the Small Lives That Keep the World Going”

The Netflix film won best feature at the awards ceremony on Sunday, as well as best director and best cinematography. (L-R) Marissa McMahon, Will Janowitz, Clint Bentley, Michael Heimler, Teddy Schwarzman, Joel Edgerton, Ashley Schlaifer, and Adolpho Veloso accept the Best Feature award for “Train Dreams” onstage during the 2026 Film Independent Spirit Awards at Hollywood Palladium on February 15, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. Kevin Winter/Getty Images Share on Facebook Share on X Google Preferred Share to Flipboard Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Send an Email Print the Article Post a Comment After Train Dreams won the big prize of best feature at the end of the 2026 Film Independent Spirit Awards on Sunday, director and co-writer Clint Bentley said the film represents “all the small lives that keep the world going.” “I’m speaking on behalf of these incredible people who worked very, very hard on this film, sometimes, in the case of some of them, for many, many years before I even came on to it,” Bentley said. “And we’re so grateful to Netflix. We’re so grateful to you, the film independent community, as we share this with our entire crew, a lot of whom are in Washington state. It’s very, very hard these days to film in the United States, but it’s worth it, and we’re proud that we were able to pull it off. This film is about all the small lives that keep the world going, the people who don’t always get movies made about them, that don’t have monuments made for them. This is celebration of that. Thank you, Joel [Edgerton], for being the heartbeat of our film.” Related Stories Movies Spirit Awards: 'Lurker' Director Alex Russell Likens Indie Film Risk to 'Ratatouille' Scene After Best First Screenplay Win Movies 'Sorry, Baby' Wins Best Screenplay at 2026 Spirit Awards; First-Time Filmmaker Eva Victor Says She Could Only Make It "Independently" Train Dreams was co-written by Bentley and Greg Kwedar and stars Edgerton, Felicity Jones, Kerry Condon and William H. Macy. It follows the life of Robert Grainier, an early 20th-century logger in the Pacific Northwest, and is based on Denis Johnson’s 2011 novella of the same name. The other nominees in the category were Sorry, Baby, The Plague, Twinless and Peter Hujar’s Day. At the Spirit Awards, Train Dreams was also nominated for best director (which it won), best lead performance (Edgerton) and best cinematography, which it also won. It is also up for four Academy Awards, including best picture. For a full list of winners, click here. You can also see the star-studded arrivals here. Read More About: Awards Independent Spirit Awards spirit awards 2026 THR Newsletters Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day Subscribe Sign Up More from The Hollywood Reporter Train Dreams Spirit Awards: ‘Train Dreams’ Director Clint Bentley Credits Films for “Putting Goodness Into the World” While It “Feels Like It’s On Fire”