The first offical “real” awards show of the 2025 Oscar season, The Gotham Awards, has unveiled a list of winners. And in a season that has millions of questions and many nervous contenders, the five industry committees that picked each winner provided some tea leaves of what may or may not turn out to be genuine Oscar player. And the big winner of the night was a massive surprise, “A Different Man.” A win so surprising the director admitted it would be hubris to prepare an acceptance speech.
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in an impressive and much needed win, RaMell Ross took Best Director, a new award, for “Nickel Boys.” One of the young stars of the film, Brandon Wilson, took Breakthrough Actor.
Clarence Maclin won Supporting Performance for “Sing Sing.” His co-star, Colman Domingo, took Outstanding Lead Actor in an impressive two-fer for the A24 Best Picture hopeful.
“His Three Daughters” won Original Screenplay while “No Othar Land” took Documentary Film. “All We Imagine Is Light” which India embarrassingly decided not to submitted as its Oscars submission, took the International Film honor.
As always the event featured a number of notable tributes. Franklin Leonard and his company, The Black List, were honored with The Gotham Anniversary tribute which was presented by Radhika Jones. The Spotlight Tribute went to Zendaya for both “Challengers” and “Dune: Part II.” She was introduced by her co-star from the former, Josh O’Connor. Angelina Jolie earned The Performer Tribute for her career and, most recently, “Maria.” xx xxx was on hand to present. Denis Villeneuve earned the Director’s Tribute and was introduced by, you guessed it, Zendaya and, in a surprise, Jake Gyllenhaal. The Ensemble Tribute went to the cast of “The Piano Lesson,” who were feted by Zoe Kravitz. The Social Justice Tribute was given to “Sing Sing” by producer and star Colman Domingo. And, lastly, The Visionary Tribute went to Timothée Chalamet and James Mangold for the Bob Dylan biopic “A Complete Unknown.” The pair were introduced by Oscar Isaac who happened to play a fictional version of Dylan in the Coen Brothers’ “Inside Llewyn Davis.”
A complete list of this year’s winners and nominee are as follows:
Best Feature
Anora
Sean Baker, director; Sean Baker, Alex Coco, Samantha Quan, producers (NEON)
Babygirl
Halina Reijn, director; David Hinojosa, Julia Oh, Halina Reijn, producers (A24)
Challengers
Luca Guadagnino, director; Luca Guadagnino, Rachel O’Connor, Amy Pascal, Zendaya, producers (Amazon MGM Studios)
A Different Man – ***WINNER***
Aaron Schimberg, director; Gabriel Mayers, Vanessa McDonnell, Christine Vachon, producers (A24)
Nickel Boys
RaMell Ross, director; Joslyn Barnes, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, David Levine, producers (Orion Pictures/Amazon MGM Studios)
Best International Feature
All We Imagine as Light – ***WiNNER***
Payal Kapadia, director; Julien Graff, Thomas Hakim, producers (Sideshow and Janus Films)
Green Border
Agnieszka Holland, director; Fred Bernstein, Agnieszka Holland, Marcin Wierzchoslawski, producers (Kino Lorber)
Hard Truths
Mike Leigh, director; Georgina Lowe, producer (Bleecker Street)
Inside the Yellow Cocoon Shell
Thien An Pham, director; Jeremy Chua, Tran Van Thi, producers (Kino Lorber)
Vermiglio
Maura Delpero, director; Francesca Andreoli, Maura Delpero, Santiago Fondevila Sance, Leonardo Guerra Seràgnoli, producers (Sideshow and Janus Films)
Best Documentary Feature
Dahomey
Mati Diop, director; Mati Diop, Judith Lou Lévy, Eve Robin, producers (MUBI)
Intercepted
Oksana Karpovych, director; Darya Bassel, Olha Beskhmelnytsina, Rocío B. Fuentes, Giacomo Nudi, Lucie Rego Pauline Tran Van Lieu, producers (Grasshopper Film)
No Other Land – ***WiNNER***
Yuval Abraham, Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Rachel Szor, directors; Fabien Greenberg, Bård Kjøge Rønning, producers (Antipode Films)
Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat
Johan Grimonprez, director; Rémi Grellety, Daan Milius, producers (Kino Lorber)
Sugarcane
Julian Brave NoiseCat, Emily Kassie, directors; Emily Kassie, Kellen Quinn, producers (National Geographic Documentary Films)
Union
Stephen Maing, Brett Story, directors; Samantha Curley, Mars Verrone, producers (Self-Distributed)
Best Director
Payal Kapadia, All We Imagine as Light (Sideshow and Janus Films)
Sean Baker, Anora (NEON)
Guan Hu, Black Dog (The Forge)
Jane Schoenbrun, I Saw the TV Glow (A24)
RaMell Ross, Nickel Boys (Orion Pictures/Amazon MGM Studios) – ***WINNER**
Best Screenplay
Between the Temples, Nathan Silver, C. Mason Wells (Sony Pictures Classics)
Evil Does Not Exist, Ryûsuke Hamaguchi (Sideshow and Janus Films)
Femme, Sam H. Freeman, Ng Choon Ping (Utopia)
His Three Daughters, Azazel Jacobs (Netflix) – ***WiNNER***
Janet Planet, Annie Baker (A24)
Breakthrough Director
Shuchi Talati, Girls Will Be Girls (Juno Films, Inc)
India Donaldson, Good One (Metrograph Pictures)
Alessandra Lacorazza, In the Summers (Music Box Films)
Vera Drew, The People’s Joker (Altered Innocence) – ***WiNNER***
Mahdi Fleifel, To a Land Unknown (Watermelon Pictures)
Outstanding Lead Performance
Pamela Anderson, The Last Showgirl (Roadside Attractions)
Adrien Brody, The Brutalist (A24)
Colman Domingo, Sing Sing (A24) – ***WINNER***
Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Hard Truths (Bleecker Street)
Nicole Kidman, Babygirl (A24)
Keith Kupferer, Ghostlight (IFC Films)
Mikey Madison, Anora (NEON)
Demi Moore, The Substance (MUBI)
Saoirse Ronan, Outrun (Sony Pictures Classics)
Justice Smith, I Saw the TV Glow (A24)
Outstanding Supporting Performance
Yura Borisov, Anora (NEON)
Kieran Culkin, A Real Pain (Searchlight Pictures)
Danielle Deadwyler, The Piano Lesson (Netflix)
Brigette Lundy-Paine, I Saw the TV Glow (A24)
Natasha Lyonne, His Three Daughters (Netflix)
Clarence Maclin, Sing Sing (A24) – ***WINNER***
Katy O’Brian, Love Lies Bleeding (A24)
Guy Pearce, The Brutalist (A24)
Adam Pearson, A Different Man (A24)
Brian Tyree Henry, The Fire Inside (Amazon MGM Studios)
Breakthrough Performer
Lily Collias, Good One (Metrograph Pictures)
Ryan Destiny, The Fire Inside (Amazon MGM Studios)
Maisy Stella, My Old Ass (Amazon MGM Studios)
Izaac Wang, Dìdi Y(Focus Features)
Brandon Wilson, Nickel Boys (Orion Pictures/Amazon MGM Studios) – ***WINNER***
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