Gothams Awards – ‘One Battle After Another’, ‘It Was Just an Accident’, ‘My Father’s Shadow’ Win Top Honors

Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another has won the top award for Best Feature at the 35th edition of The Gothams held at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City.

It Was Just an Accident was a big winner, receiving the award for Best International Feature, along with Best Director and Best Original Screenplay for Jafar Panahi.

The Best Documentary Feature award went to My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air in Moscow directed by Julia Loktev.

My Father’s Shadow won the the award for Breakthrough Director for Akinola Davies Jr. and Outstanding Lead Performance for Sopé Dìrísù.

Other performance awards including Outstanding Supporting Performance went to Wunmi Mosaku in Sinners, and Breakthrough Performer went to Abou Sangaré for Souleymane’s Story.

And Harry Lighton won Best Adapted Screenplay for Pillion.

The Gothams Tributes, the organization’s highest honors celebrating outstanding achievement in film, were also presented at the ceremony. Frankenstein received the Gotham Vanguard Tribute for its bold reimagining of the timeless tale. The cast of Sinners received the Ensemble Tribute for their bracing, inspired performances. Tessa Thompson received the Spotlight Tribute for her magnetic portrayal in Nia DaCosta’s Hedda. Noah Baumbach received the Gotham Director Tribute for his remarkable career and his latest achievement, Jay Kelly. Kate Hudson and Hugh Jackman received the inaugural Gotham Musical Tribute for their outstanding musical performances in Song Sung Blue. Jeremy Allen White and Scott Cooper received The Gotham Cultural Icon Tribute for their remarkable collaboration on Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere. Luca Guadagnino and Julia Roberts received the Visionary Tribute for their provocative and powerful partnership on After the Hunt.

The Gotham also announced the winners of its seventh annual Focus Features Student Short Film Showcase. The five winning filmmakers were:

Maria Regina Rios Ceja
Maybe I’ll Find You In A Robbery (Tal Vez Te Encuentre En Un Asalto)
Loyola Marymount University

Cameron Clay
JESUS IS COMING (to take the Church away)
Columbia University

Sergio Muñoz Esquer
Ballad of an Immigrant with Memory (Balada de un Inmigrante con Memoria)
University of Texas at Austin

ishkwaazhe Shane McSauby
The Beguiling
New York University

Alexander Molochnikov
Extremist
Columbia University

The Gothams film winners for 2025 are:

For Best Feature, presented by Chris Rock and Naomi Watts
One Battle After Another
Directed by Paul Thomas Anderson
Produced by Paul Thomas Anderson, Sara Murphy, and Adam Somner
Released by Warner Bros. Pictures
The Best Feature jury included: Alec Baldwin, Alex Coco, Danielle Deadwyler, Julia Oh, and Janet Yang

For Best International Feature, presented by Ethan Hawke and Andrew Scott
It Was Just an Accident
Directed by Jafar Panahi
Produced by Philippe Martin and Jafar Panahi
Released by NEON
The Best International Feature jury included: Laure de Clermont, Mike Goodridge, Annette Insdorf, Kishori Rajan, and Claire Taylor

For Best Documentary Feature, presented by Alina Cho
My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air in Moscow
Directed by Julia Loktev
Produced by Julia Loktev
Self-distributed
The Best Documentary Feature jury included: Fabien Greenberg, Stephen Maing, Leslie Norville, Katharina Otto-Bernstein, and Nisha Pahuja

For Best Director, presented by Joel Edgerton and Felicity Jones
Jafar Panahi for It Was Just an Accident
Released by NEON
The Best Director jury included: James Faust, Mary Harron, Lynn Nottage, Jane Schoenbrun and Sebastian Stan

For Best Original Screenplay, presented by Regina Hall, Chase Infiniti and Teyana Taylor
Jafar Panahi for It Was Just an Accident
Released by NEON
The Best Original Screenplay jury included: Peter Chiarelli, Gia Coppola, Gina Duncan, Justin Kuritzkes, and Audra McDonald

For Best Adapted Screenplay, presented by Amanda Seyfried and Stellan Skarsgård
Harry Lighton for Pillion
Released by A24
The Best Adapted Screenplay jury included: Raúl Castillo, Ann Dowd, Cheryl Dunye, Jeremy Garelick, and Katie Silberman
For Breakthrough Director, presented by Rose Byrne and Wagner Moura

Akinola Davies Jr. for My Father’s Shadow
Released by MUBI
The Breakthrough Director jury included: Vera Drew, Gabriel Mayers, Channing Godfrey Peoples, A.V. Rockwell, and Sean Wang
For Outstanding Lead Performance, presented by Elle Fanning and Kristen Stewart

Sopé Dìrísù in My Father’s Shadow
Released by MUBI
The Outstanding Lead Performance jury included: Hugh Dancy, Scott Lambert, Molly Ringwald, Jeymes Samuel, and Shira-Lee Shalit
For Outstanding Supporting Performance, presented by Lee Byung hun and Minnie Driver

Wunmi Mosaku in Sinners
Released by Warner Bros. Pictures
The Outstanding Supporting Performance jury included: Monica Barbaro, Kim Coleman, Lily Gladstone, Clarence Maclin, and Katy O’Brian
For Breakthrough Performer, presented by Imogen Poots and Renate Reinsve

Abou Sangaré in Souleymane’s Story
Released by Kino Lorber
The Breakthrough Performer jury included: Ana Lily Amirpour, Timothy Hutton, Nia Long, David Lowery, and Brandon Wilson