2025 Gotham Awards: Complete Winners, Big Surprises, and the Films That Took the Lead This Season

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Dec 1

Written By Jonathan P. Moustakas

**The 2025 Gotham Awards Best Feature Nominees**

The 2025 Gotham Awards wrapped in New York with headline-making wins, emotional speeches, and early Oscar momentum shifting in real time.

The 2025 Gotham Awards have officially come to a close at Cipriani Wall Street, ending a ceremony that immediately reshapes the early contours of the awards race. What unfolded inside the room was not simply the first major stop of the season, but a night defined by political urgency, emotional defiance, and some of the strongest artistic statements seen on the Gotham stage in years. With audiences, publicists, and studio insiders all watching for momentum-setters heading into critics’ awards, the Gothams delivered a slate of winners that felt both deeply personal and strategically impactful.

From the moment Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another entered the night with a historic six nominations, expectations were high that the Warner Bros. epic would prove its dominance. Its Best Feature win did more than confirm its status; it established the film as one of the season’s central pillars, the kind of prestige title that carries weight across the industry in December and January. But the story of the night belonged just as powerfully to a filmmaker half a world away. Jafar Panahi — hours after being sentenced to a year in prison in Iran — stunned the room as It Was Just an Accident swept all three of its categories, including Best Director and Best International Feature. His speeches, delivered via translator to an audience that rose twice in standing ovation, turned a New York awards show into a global moment of solidarity with artists risking their lives to make cinema.

Breakthroughs defined the ceremony as well. Akinola Davies Jr.’s My Father’s Shadow delivered a quiet but potent two-category sweep, including a major lead-performance win for Sopé Dìrísù, whose absence did little to diminish the impact of his victory. Wunmi Mosaku’s Supporting Performance win for Sinners was another emotional highlight, accepted by director Ryan Coogler — a reminder of how deeply the Gotham voters embraced work rooted in bold stances and character-driven intensity. And Harry Lighton’s win for Pillion in Adapted Screenplay continued what many inside the room described as the film’s “stealth takeover” heading into the next round of awards.

Between competitive categories, the room was repeatedly brought to its feet by a series of high-profile tributes that showcased the breadth of talent shaping this year’s conversation. Kate Hudson and Hugh Jackman accepted the inaugural Musical Tribute with the energy of two performers fully aware they were launching a new Gotham tradition. Tessa Thompson, honored with the Spotlight Tribute for Hedda, received a glowing introduction from Nia DaCosta and Nina Hoss. Guillermo del Toro, Oscar Isaac, and Jacob Elordi accepted the Vanguard Tribute for Frankenstein, with del Toro’s fiery, anti-AI mic-drop prompting one of the loudest applause breaks of the night. And Julia Roberts and Luca Guadagnino, celebrated with the Visionary Tribute, used their moment to reflect on collaboration, longevity, and the shared language of trust between actor and filmmaker.

Noticeably absent from competition were two high-profile projects — Marty Supreme and Is This Thing On? — both unfinished at the time of Gotham voting. Their late-season arrival ensures the race remains open, but the Gothams have now set the first meaningful benchmarks. With winners locked, tributes delivered, and early narratives forming, the 2025 awards season officially has its opening chapter. And if tonight’s results are any indication, it’s going to be a far more unpredictable, politically charged, and artistically varied journey than anyone expected.

Watch The Gotham Film AwaRDS LIVE Below:

Below is the complete list of 2025 Gotham Awards winners across all categories:

Best Feature

Bugonia

East of Wall

Familiar Touch

Hamnet

If I Had Legs I’d Kick You

Lurker

One Battle After Another (WINNER)

Sorry, Baby

The Testament of Ann Lee

Train Dreams

Jafar Panahi at the Gothams on Monday. **Credit**- **Michael Loccisano/Getty Images**

Best Director

Mary Bronstein, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You

Jafar Panahi, It Was Just an Accident (WINNER)

Kelly Reichardt, The Mastermind

Paul Thomas Anderson, One Battle After Another

Oliver Laxe, Sirât

My Undesirable Friends: Part I — Last Air in Moscow' **JULIA LOKTEV**

Best Documentary Feature

2000 Meters to Andriivka

BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions

My Undesirable Friends: Part I — Last Air in Moscow (WINNER)

The Perfect Neighbor

Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk

Best International Feature

It Was Just an Accident (WINNER)

No Other Choice

Nouvelle Vague

Resurrection

Sound of Falling

Best Adapted Screenplay

No Other Choice, Park Chan-wook, Lee Kyoung-mi, Jahye Lee, Don McKellar

One Battle After Another, Paul Thomas Anderson

Pillion, Harry Lighton (WINNER)

Preparation for the Next Life, Martyna Majok

Train Dreams, Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar

POPULAR ON THE CINEMA GROUP

Best Original Screenplay

If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, Mary Bronstein

It Was Just an Accident, Jafar Panahi (WINNER)

The Secret Agent, Kleber Mendonça Filho

Sorry, Baby, Eva Victor

Sound of Falling, Mascha Schilinski, Louise Peter

Sopé Dìrísù in ‘My Father’s Shadow’ **- MUBI**

Best Lead Performance

Jessie Buckley, Hamnet

Rose Byrne, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You

Lee Byung Hun, No Other Choice

Sopé Dìrísù, My Father’s Shadow (WINNER)

Ethan Hawke, Blue Moon

Jennifer Lawrence, Die My Love

Wagner Moura, The Secret Agent

Josh O’Connor, The Mastermind

Amanda Seyfried, The Testament of Ann Lee

Tessa Thompson, Hedda

Wunmi Mosaku in *Sinners* - **Warner Bros.**

Best Supporting Performance

Benicio del Toro, One Battle After Another

Jacob Elordi, Frankenstein

Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, Sentimental Value

Indya Moore, Father Mother Sister Brother

Wunmi Mosaku, Sinners (WINNER)

Adam Sandler, Jay Kelly

Andrew Scott, Blue Moon

Alexander Skarsgård, Pillion

Stellan Skarsgård, Sentimental Value

Teyana Taylor, One Battle After Another

Best Breakthrough Performer

A$AP Rocky, Highest 2 Lowest

Sebiye Behtiyar, Preparation for the Next Life

Chase Infiniti, One Battle After Another

Abou Sangaré, Souleymane’s Story (WINNER)

Tonatiuh, Kiss of the Spider Woman

Best Breakthrough Director

Constance Tsang, Blue Sun Palace

Carson Lund, Eephus

Sarah Friedland, Familiar Touch

Akinola Davies Jr., My Father’s Shadow (WINNER)

Harris Dickinson, Urchin

By the time the final award was announced, the 2025 Gotham Awards had done more than hand out trophies—they had shaped the early contours of the awards-season narrative. Panahi’s trio of wins for It Was Just an Accident turned the film into an international cause célèbre; My Father’s Shadow announced itself as one of the year’s most formidable breakouts; Wunmi Mosaku’s supporting win added fuel to Sinners’ growing momentum; and One Battle After Another confirmed Paul Thomas Anderson’s film as a serious Best Picture threat heading into the critics’ awards.

The tributes reinforced the industry’s shifting landscape as well, honoring artists whose work spans independent cinema, streaming prestige projects, and studio-backed films—an acknowledgment that the boundaries between categories are dissolving faster than ever. Whether it was J.J. Abrams introducing del Toro, Paul Rudd honoring Guadagnino and Roberts, or Adam Sandler celebrating Noah Baumbach, the night doubled as a reminder that film culture is an ecosystem: connected, collaborative, and global.

As always, the Gothams offer only an early snapshot. Some major contenders—Marty Supreme, Is This Thing On?, and several late-breaking December titles—have yet to join the race. But if tonight is any indication, the season ahead will be defined by bold filmmaking, global voices, genre-defying performances, and the ongoing fight to protect artistic freedom worldwide. With surprises already emerging and momentum shifting by the hour, the road to the Oscars has officially begun—and this year, it’s wide open.