Keeping pace with Hollywood’s awards horserace. Sign up for the newsletter here . Jafar Panahi has won two awards already for It Was Just an Accident. Photo: Michael Loccisano/Getty Images Tonight, award season has unofficially begun for independent films with the 2025 Gotham Awards in New York City. Nominations are selected by those not directly a part of the filmmaking process but knowledgeable about cinema, like journalists, critics, and festival curators. Final winners are chosen by