Taking the podium at Cipriani Wall Street, Anderson gave a loving anniversary wish to his wife, “Saturday Night Live” vet Maya Rudolph: “I met a woman who made me a better filmmaker. Thank you, Maya.”
It was the highest-profile win of the three-hour event, which saw star Oscar nominees “Hamnet” and “Bugonia” return home empty-handed, while acclaimed international films “My Father’s Shadow” and “Souleyman Story” claimed major hardware.
Between courses of steak with asparagus and chocolate layer cake, countless A-listers took the stage for the final awards campaign before the Critics’ Choice and Golden Globe nominations are announced next week.
Julia Roberts accepted a visionary tribute honor with “After the Hunt” director Luca Guadagnino, jokingly cutting her speech short for a bathroom break. (“I didn’t know how long it would last, and I didn’t control my water intake,” she quipped.)
Meanwhile, when Adam Sandler presented “Jay Kelly” filmmaker Noah Baumbach with a special directorial tribute, he went on a sarcastic, expletive-filled tangent, at one point calling out his former agent. (“He went back to Omaha and sells weed…he sucks,” Sandler said.)
What else you missed at this year’s event:
Hugh Jackman made Ryan Reynolds ‘jealous’ of Kate Hudson
Taking the stage for Gotham’s first musical tribute awards show, Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson sang a few lines of Neil Diamond’s “Sweet Caroline” — a playful nod to their new film “Songs Sung Blue,” about the real-life Diamond tribute band.
“It’s great,” Jackman said, before acknowledging his faux rivalry with his “Deadpool and Wolverine” costar: “It would make Ryan Reynolds extremely jealous.”
The eager-to-please showman, who was supported by girlfriend Sutton Foster in the audience, made a bold prediction about Hudson, who is back in the awards race a quarter-century after “Almost Famous.”
Jackman said, “Kate Hudson is not only one of the great stars in our business, she’s also an excellent actress.” “I’m sure he’s going to get an Oscar this time.”
Guillermo del Toro condemns AI, Oscar Isaac champions immigrants
Guillermo del Toro, a vocal proponent against AI in Hollywood, minced no words when accepting the lead tribute for “Frankenstein” with the monster movie’s stars Oscar Isaac and Jacob Elordi.
Del Toro thanked the entire cast and crew, saying, “Every single frame of this film was intentionally made by humans, for humans.” “The designers, the builders, the makeup, the wardrobe team, the cinematographers, the composers, the editors – this tribute is to all of them. I want to express my gratitude and say: F— AI.”
Isaacs similarly made a plea for the timeliness of the Netflix film, noting that he is Guatemalan, Elordi is Australian and del Toro is Mexican.
“Immigrants, we’re done!” Isaac announced, referencing one of the more famous lines from Lin-Manuel Miranda’s “Hamilton.”
‘It Was Just an Accident’ director Jafar Panahi gets victory after jail sentence
Gotham’s biggest winner was “It Was Just an Accident”, which took three awards for Best Original Screenplay, Best International Feature and Best Director (Jafar Panahi). The flurry of awards came just hours after Panafy’s lawyer announced that the daring filmmaker had been sentenced in absentia to a year in prison in his native Iran after pleading guilty to “propaganda against the system.”
“It Was Just an Accident,” which won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, is a darkly comic thriller that follows a group of Iranian political prisoners as they seek revenge on a man who may or may not be their tormentor.
On stage, Panahi dedicated her trophies to independent artists from Iran and around the world, honoring “those filmmakers who, without any support, and sometimes risking everything, keep the cameras rolling with only their belief in truth and humanity.”
He added, “I hope this dedication will be considered a small tribute to all those filmmakers who are deprived of the right to see and be seen, but continue to create and exist.”
Gotham Awards 2025 Full List of Winners
best feature: “One fight after another”
Best Director: Jafar Panahi, “It was just an accident”
Excellent Leadership Performance: Sop Dirisu, “My Father’s Shadow”
Excellent supporting performance: Wunmi Mosaku, “Sinner”
Best Original Screenplay: “It was just an accident.”
Best Adapted Screenplay: “Pillion”
Best International Facility: “It was just an accident.”
Best Documentary Feature: “My Unwanted Friends: Part I – The Last Trip to Moscow”
Breakthrough Director: Akinola Davis Jr., “My Father’s Shadow”
Breakthrough Artists: Abu Sangare, “The Story of Suleiman”
Cultural Icon Tribute: Jeremy Alan White and Scott Cooper, “Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere”
Director Tribute: Noah Baumbach, “Jay Kelly”
Collective Tribute: cast of “sinners”
Musical tribute: Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson, “Song Sung Blue”
Spotlight Tribute: Tessa Thompson, “Hedda”
Vanguard Tribute: Guillermo del Toro, Oscar Isaac and Jacob Elordi, “Frankenstein”
Visionary Tribute: Luca Guadagnino and Julia Roberts, “After the Hunt”
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