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‘One Battle After Another’ was crowned best feature film and the dissident Iranian director Jafar Panahi won three awards Monday at the 35th annual Gotham Awards
Jake CoyleTuesday 02 December 2025 10:35 GMT
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Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another was named Best Feature Film, while acclaimed Iranian dissident director Jafar Panahi secured three awards at the 35th annual Gotham Awards on Monday, marking a glittering start to the film industry’s awards season.
The Gothams, presented by the Gotham Film & Media Institute, are not typically seen as a predictor for the Academy Awards.
However, the black-tie ceremony, held at Cipriani Wall Street in downtown Manhattan, is renowned for championing smaller, independent films, alongside bestowing numerous tribute accolades upon Oscar hopefuls.
This year’s top prize for One Battle After Another, a studio release with a reported budget of at least $130m.
open image in galleryMaya Rudolph and Paul Thomas Anderson attend The Gotham Film Awards (Invision)Past winners include indies like Past Lives, Everything Everywhere All at Once and the surprise 2024 winner, A Different Man.
The shift follows the Gotham Awards’ decision to remove their $35m budget cap for eligible films.
One Battle After Another, a poignant father-daughter narrative of multigenerational protest, is now widely tipped as a front-runner for Best Picture at March’s Academy Awards.
"I didn’t expect this, actually," Anderson admitted upon accepting the award. "I started to think I didn’t know what was going on." He concluded, "Thank you very much, everybody. Let’s go home or let’s go to a bar somewhere or something."
Panahi’s triple triumph for his revenge drama It Was Just an Accident – Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best International Film – was, however, overshadowed by news earlier on Monday that he had been sentenced to a year in prison and a two-year travel ban.
Panahi was imprisoned for months prior to making It Was Just an Accident and was only released after undertaking a hunger strike.
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Since 2010, he has been prohibited from filmmaking or leaving Iran, yet he has continued to create films without official state approval. While he had been permitted to leave Iran since 2023, this freedom ended with Monday’s ruling. His film previously won the Palme d’Or at Cannes.
Accepting the screenplay award, Panahi stated, "I would like to dedicate the honour of this award to independent filmmakers in Iran and around the world. Filmmakers who keep the camera rolling in silence without support and, at times, risking everything they have, only with their faith in truth and humanity."
open image in gallerySheida Dayani and Jafar Panahi accept the Best Original Screenplay award for ‘It Was Just an Accident’ during The Gotham Awards (Getty)The Gothams, known for their more idiosyncratic selections compared to larger ceremonies due to small juries, saw both lead acting winners notably absent.
Sopé Dìrísù won Best Lead Performance for the British-Nigerian drama My Father’s Shadow, with the award accepted by the film’s director, Akinola Davies Jr., who also secured Breakthrough Director.
Wunmi Mosaku took Best Supporting Performance for Sinners, triumphing over nominees including Teyana Taylor and Stellan Skarsgård, with her award accepted by director Ryan Coogler.
Other winners included Pillion director Harry Lighton for adapted screenplay, Abou Sangaré for breakthrough performer for Souleymane’s Story, and Julia Loktev’s My Undesirable Friends: Part 1 – Last Air in Moscow for best documentary.
Tribute honourees included Guillermo del Toro, Scott Cooper, Tessa Thompson, Noah Baumbach, the cast of Sinners, Luca Guadagnino, Julia Roberts, Hugh Jackman, and Kate Hudson. As Jackman aptly put it, "This is a time for all of us to remember what unites us and what brings us together. And that is awards season, everybody."
