Jafar Panahi, One Battle After Another win big at Gotham Awards

At the 35th annual Gotham Awards, Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another was named Best Feature Film, while Iranian director Jafar Panahi won three awards for his revenge drama It Was Just an Accident, marking a star-studded start to the film awards season.
Hosted by the Gotham Film & Media Institute at Cipriani Wall Street in Manhattan, the ceremony celebrated both independent cinema and Oscar hopefuls, though it is not considered a direct predictor of Academy Awards success.
One Battle After Another, a $130 million father-daughter drama about multi-generational protest, represents a departure from the Gothams’ traditional focus on low-budget films.
Anderson, accepting the award, expressed surprise and gratitude. Sope Dirisu won Best Lead Performance for My Father’s Shadow, with the award accepted by director Akinola Davies Jr., who also took home Breakthrough Director honors. Wunmi Mosaku of Sinners won Best Supporting Performance, accepted by director Ryan Coogler.
Panahi, previously jailed and facing travel bans in Iran, won Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best International Film\
Speaking at the ceremony, he dedicated his awards to independent filmmakers in Iran and globally, highlighting the risks they take to continue creating art under oppressive regimes. His film had previously won the Palme d’Or at Cannes in May.
Other winners included Harry Lighton for Adapted Screenplay (Pillion), Abou Sangare for Breakthrough Performer (Souleymane’s Story), and Julia Loktev’s My Undesirable Friends: Part 1 – Last Air in Moscow for Best Documentary.
Tribute awards honored figures like Guillermo del Toro (Frankenstein), Tessa Thompson (Hedda), Luca Guadagnino and Julia Roberts (After the Hunt), and Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson (Song Sung Blue). The ceremony celebrated both cinematic achievement and the resilience of filmmakers worldwide, emphasizing creativity, diversity, and storytelling in challenging times. (PTI)