New York Film Critics Circle Names Best Film and Highlights This Year’s Winners

The New York Film Critics Circle (NYFCC) awarded its Best Film prize to Warner Bros’ One Battle After Another, directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, almost four hours after voting concluded on Tuesday. This marks the film’s second Best Film accolade, following its win at the Gotham Awards the previous evening.

Warner Bros had a strong showing at this year’s NYFCC, winning a total of four awards. In addition to the Best Film honor, Benicio Del Toro secured the Best Supporting Actor award for his role in One Battle After Another, while Amy Madigan won Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Weapons. Cinematography honors went to Ryan Coogler’s film, Sinners.

Voting commenced around 9:16 a.m. ET, a process known for its length within the 50-member critics organization. Winners were announced as decisions were made, illuminating the deliberation involved in the selections.

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As the oldest critics group in the U.S., the NYFCC has traditionally served as a precursor for Oscar nominations and victories, although its picks for Best Picture have not aligned with the Academy since The Artist in 2011. This year, the outcome may differ.

Among other notable winners, Iranian director Jafar Panahi received the Best Director award for his Cannes Palme d’Or-winning film, It Was Just an Accident. Recently, Panahi faced a one-year prison sentence and a two-year travel ban in absentia from the Tehran Islamic Revolutionary Court during his awards-season tour for France’s International Film Oscar submission.

Panahi also won Best Screenplay at the Gothams on Monday, where he dedicated the honor to filmmakers “deprived of the right to see and be seen.” His recent sentencing includes a ban on membership in political and social groups due to accusations of “propaganda activities against the system.”

Kleber Mendonça Filho’s The Secret Agent, which earned accolades for Best Director, saw Wagner Moura take home the Best Actor award; the film was also recognized as Best International Film by the NYFCC.

The first award of the day went to Carson Lund’s Eephus, which won Best First Film. The movie centers around a group of adult men playing recreational baseball on their beloved field before it is demolished.

Del Toro, who previously won Best Actor in 2000 for Traffic—a role that earned him the Best Supporting Actor Oscar—has now received a second NYFCC award. Madigan, Moura, and Rose Byrne, named Best Actress for her role in If I Had Legs I’d Kick You, all marked their first victories at the NYFCC.

Last year, the NYFCC awarded Best Picture to The Brutalist by Brady Corbet, with Adrien Brody winning Best Actor for that film. Other NYFCC winners aligned with the Oscars included Brody for Best Actor, Kieran Culkin for Best Supporting Actor in Real Pain, Best Screenplay for Anora, Best Animated Feature for Flow, and Best Documentary for No Other Land.

This year’s winners are as follows:

Film: One Battle After Another

Director: Jafar Panahi, It Was Just an Accident

Actor: Wagner Moura, The Secret Agent

Actress: Rose Byrne, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You

Supporting Actor: Benicio Del Toro, One Battle After Another

Supporting Actress: Amy Madigan, Weapons

Screenplay: Josh Safdie and Ronald Bronstein, Marty Supreme

Animated Film: KPop Demon Hunters

Cinematography: Autumn Durald Arkapaw for Sinners

Non-Fiction Film: My Undesirable Friends: Part I – Last Air in Moscow

International Film: The Secret Agent

First Film: Eephus by Carson Lund

Student Prizes: London Xhudo (Undergraduate, NYU) and Tan Zhiyuan (Graduate, The New School)

Special Prizes: Museum of Moving Image, Screen Slate