At the Gotham Awards, ‘One Battle After Another’ claims Best Feature while Jafar Panahi’s ‘It Was Just an Accident’ dominates with three major wins.QN

It was a night of surprises and stunners as the 35th annual Gotham Awards kicked off the film awards season, where Paul Thomas Anderson’s action epic “One Battle After Another” took home the top prize for best feature — the sole win from its six record-breaking nominations.

Iranian filmmaker Jafar Panahi emerged as the evening’s biggest winner, pulling off a hat trick with international feature, original screenplay and director for “It Was Just an Accident.”

Presented by the Gotham Film & Media Institute and held at Cipriani Wall Street, this marked the third year since the organization removed budget caps for awards consideration. In previous years, a film’s budget could not exceed $35 million to be eligible.

Past best feature winners have included “Spotlight” (2015), “Moonlight” (2016) and “Everything Everywhere All at Once” (2022), all of which went on to win best picture at the Oscars.

Among the shockers of the evening was the self-distributed “My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air in Moscow,” directed and produced by Julia Loktev, as well as A24’s “Pillion,” which won adapted screenplay for scribe Harry Lighton.

All three acting prizes went to performers who were not in attendance. Sopé Dìrísù won best lead performance for “My Father’s Shadow,” Wunmi Mosaku clinched supporting performance for “Sinners,” and Abou Sangaré won breakthrough performance for “Souleymane’s Story.”

In addition to crowning the competitive winners, the ceremony presented several tributes to actors and filmmakers. Among them was Netflix’s “Frankenstein,” with director Guillermo del Toro rallying the crowd by declaring, “Fuck AI,” and a hilarious Adam Sandler presenting a tribute — alongside “Jay Kelly” co-writer Emily Mortimer — to the film’s director, Noah Baumbach.

The full list of winners are below.

Best Feature

• “Bugonia” (Focus Features) — Ari Aster, Ed Guiney, Lars Knudsen, Jerry Kyoungboum Ko, Yorgos Lanthimos, Miky Lee, Andrew Lowe, Emma Stone, producers
• “East of Wall” (Sony Pictures Classics) — Kate Beecroft, Shannon Moss, Melanie Ramsayer, Lila Yacoub, producers
• “Familiar Touch” (Music Box Films) — Alexandra Byer, Sarah Friedland, Matthew Thurm, producers
• “Hamnet” (Focus Features) — Nicolas Gonda, Pippa Harris, Liza Marshall, Sam Mendes, Steven Spielberg, producers
• “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” (A24) — Ronald Bronstein, Eli Bush, Richie Doyle, Conor Hannon, Sara Murphy, Josh Safdie, Ryan Zacarias, producers
• “Lurker” (Mubi) — Galen Core, Archie Madekwe, Marc Marrie, Charlie McDowell, Francesco Melzi d’Eril, Duncan Montgomery, Alex Orlovsky, Olmo Schnabel, Jack Selby, producers
• “One Battle After Another” (Warner Bros. Pictures) — Paul Thomas Anderson, Sara Murphy, Adam Somner, producers
• “Sorry, Baby” (A24) — Mark Ceryak, Barry Jenkins, Adele Romanski, producers
• “The Testament of Ann Lee” (Searchlight Pictures) — Brady Corbet, Mona Fastvold, Joshua Horsfield, Gregory Jankilevitsch, Mark Lampert, Lillian LaSalle, Andrew Morrison, Viktória Petrányi, Klaudia Smieja-Rostworowska, producers
• “Train Dreams” (Netflix) — Michael Heimler, Will Janowitz, Marissa McMahon, Ashley Schlaifer, Teddy Schwarzman, producers

Best International Feature

• “It Was Just an Accident” (Neon) — Philippe Martin, Jafar Panahi, producers
• “No Other Choice” (Neon) — Park Chan-wook, Alexandre Gavras, Michèle Ray Gavras, Back Jisun, producers
• “Nouvelle Vague” (Netflix) — Laurent Pétin, Michèle Pétin, producers
• “Resurrection” (Janus Films) — Charles Gillibert, Yang Lele, Shan Zuolong, producers
• “Sound of Falling” (Mubi) — Lucas Schmidt, Maren Schmitt, producers

Best Documentary Feature

• “2000 Meters to Andriivka” (PBS) — directed by Mstyslav Chernov; Raney Aronson-Rath, Mstyslav Chernov, Michelle Mizner, producers
• “BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions” (Rich Spirit) — directed by Kahlil Joseph; Onye Anyanwu, Kahlil Joseph, David Linde, Anikah McLaren, James Shani, Steven Soderbergh, producers
• “My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air in Moscow” (self-distributed) — directed and produced by Julia Loktev
• “The Perfect Neighbor” (Netflix) — directed by Geeta Gandbhir; Sam Bisbee, Geeta Gandbhir, Nikon Kwantu, Alisa Payne, producers
• “Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk” (Kino Lorber) — directed by Sepideh Farsi; Javad Djavahery, Sepideh Farsi, producers

Best Director

• Mary Bronstein, “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” (A24)
• Jafar Panahi, “It Was Just an Accident” (Neon)
• Kelly Reichardt, “The Mastermind” (Mubi)
• Paul Thomas Anderson, “One Battle After Another” (Warner Bros. Pictures)
• Oliver Laxe, “Sirât” (Neon)

Breakthrough Director

• Constance Tsang, “Blue Sun Palace” (Mubi)
• Carson Lund, “Eephus” (Music Box Films)
• Sarah Friedland, “Familiar Touch” (Music Box Films)
• Akinola Davies Jr., “My Father’s Shadow” (Mubi)
• Harris Dickinson, “Urchin” (1-2 Special)

Best Original Screenplay

• “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” (A24) — written by Mary Bronstein
• “It Was Just an Accident” (Neon) — written by Jafar Panahi
• “The Secret Agent” (Neon) — written by Kleber Mendonça Filho
• “Sorry, Baby” (A24) — written by Eva Victor
• “Sound of Falling” (Mubi) — written by Louise Peter, Mascha Schilinski

Best Adapted Screenplay

• “No Other Choice” (Neon) — written by Park Chan-wook, Lee Kyoung-mi, Jahye Lee, Don McKellar
• “One Battle After Another” (Warner Bros. Pictures) — written by Paul Thomas Anderson
• “Pillion” (A24) — written by Harry Lighton
• “Preparation for the Next Life” (Orion Pictures/Amazon MGM Studios) — written by Martyna Majok
• “Train Dreams” (Netflix) — written by Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar

Outstanding Lead Performance

• Jessie Buckley, “Hamnet” (Focus Features)
• Lee Byung-hun, “No Other Choice” (Neon)
• Rose Byrne, “If I Had Legs I’d Kick You” (A24)
• Sopé Dìrísù, “My Father’s Shadow” (Mubi)
• Ethan Hawke, “Blue Moon” (Sony Pictures Classics)
• Jennifer Lawrence, “Die My Love” (Mubi)
• Wagner Moura, “The Secret Agent” (Neon)
• Josh O’Connor, “The Mastermind” (Mubi)
• Amanda Seyfried, “The Testament of Ann Lee” (Searchlight Pictures)
• Tessa Thompson, “Hedda” (Orion Pictures/Amazon MGM Studios)

Outstanding Supporting Performance

• Benicio Del Toro, “One Battle After Another” (Warner Bros. Pictures)
• Jacob Elordi, “Frankenstein” (Netflix)
• Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas, “Sentimental Value” (Neon)
• Indya Moore, “Father Mother Sister Brother” (Mubi)
• Wunmi Mosaku, “Sinners” (Warner Bros. Pictures)
• Adam Sandler, “Jay Kelly” (Netflix)
• Andrew Scott, “Blue Moon” (Sony Pictures Classics)
• Alexander Skarsgård, “Pillion” (A24)
• Stellan Skarsgård, “Sentimental Value” (Neon)
• Teyana Taylor, “One Battle After Another” (Warner Bros. Pictures)

Breakthrough Performer

• A$AP Rocky, “Highest 2 Lowest” (A24)
• Sebiye Behtiyar, “Preparation for the Next Life” (Orion Pictures/Amazon MGM Studios)
• Chase Infiniti, “One Battle After Another” (Warner Bros. Pictures)
• Abou Sangaré, “Souleymane’s Story” (Kino Lorber)
• Tonatiuh, “Kiss of the Spider Woman” (Roadside Attractions/Lionsgate/LD