The 35th annual Gotham Awards were held last night in New York City. While small in the grand scheme of awards season, the Gothams have built a reputation for being the first precursor to announce their nominations and often give smaller films an early-season boost. They’re not the most accurate Oscars predictor and are notoriously difficult to forecast, as each category is voted on by a jury of five people, and each category has a different jury.
Although the organization removed its budget restrictions and now honours larger-scale films, it still aims to celebrate the independent spirit of filmmaking. That being said, the Gothams did noticeably stray from their independent roots this year. Paul Thomas Anderson’s $140M blockbuster One Battle After Another earned six nominations, the most in the organization’s history, and went on to win Best Feature, a category that has traditionally recognized much smaller films. This sets a clear precedent for the season ahead and is likely just the first of many awards PTA will collect this year.
Another major Warner Bros.–backed blockbuster that did well at the Gothams was Sinners, which surprised pundits and won Outstanding Supporting Performance for Wunmi Mosaku. Mosaku was already on the periphery of the awards conversation, but between Sinners surging and now this win, it will give her a substantial boost in a category that’s very up in the air at the moment. She wasn’t able to attend the ceremony due to filming another project in London, but Ryan Coogler accepted the award on her behalf and spoke very highly of her as a performer. Sinners also received the Ensemble Tribute Award, so although it didn’t earn a large number of nominations, it still had an excellent showing.
The big winner of the night was Jafar Panahi and his film It Was Just an Accident, which swept all three categories it was nominated in: Best International Feature, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Director. The film is shaping up to be a major presence on the awards circuit and could have an especially strong week as critics groups begin rolling out their nominations. Panahi’s speeches were deeply moving and clearly resonated with the audience.
My Father’s Shadow also had a remarkable night, taking home Best Lead Performance for Ṣọpẹ́ Dìrísù, a major upset in a stacked category of Oscar hopefuls. It also won Best Breakthrough Director for Ainola Davies Jr., who recently won Best Director at the British Independent Film Awards. The film is gaining significant momentum, and with MUBI seeing limited traction with Die My Love, they may shift their focus toward campaigning for My Father’s Shadow in the Best International Feature race, as it was selected as Nigeria’s official submission.
Speaking of films that also won big at the British Independent Film Awards, Pillion took home Best Adapted Screenplay at the Gothams for Harry Lighton, beating heavyweights like Paul Thomas Anderson and Park Chan-wook. The film is gaining significant momentum and could perform very well with critics groups.
While the Gotham Awards aren’t the most reliable Oscar predictor, the winner of Best Documentary Feature almost always secures an Academy Award nomination. This year, however, that pattern will likely be broken, as the five-and-a-half-hour documentary about Russian journalists, My Undesirable Friend – Part 1, claimed the award. Although the film has received strong critical acclaim, it is the type of long, arthouse documentary that critics champion and the Academy typically overlooks.
Finally, Best Breakthrough Performance went not to One Battle After Another star Chase Infiniti, as many expected, but to Guinean actor Abou Sangaré for his performance in Souleymane’s Story, which premiered at Cannes last year.
Some films on the verge of breaking into the awards conversation could have benefited from a bigger push here. If I Had Legs I’d Kick You received four nominations but came away empty-handed, while Train Dreams, The Testament of Ann Lee, and Sorry, Baby also failed to win awards. In past years, the Gotham Awards would have championed films like these before expanding their budget cap.
Overall, the Gotham’s once again took some bold swings and helped give a huge boost to It Was Just An Accident, as well as My Father’s Shadow, and Pillion, and kicked off a potentially very fruitful awards season for both One Battle After Another and Sinners.
Stay tuned to keithlovesmovies for the latest Awards Season news and analysis, leading up to the 98th Academy Awards on March 15th, 2026.
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