Critics Awards (Film)

North Dakota Film Society (NDFS) Awards: ‘Sinners’ Takes Best Picture

Erik Anderson January 12, 2026

The North Dakota Film Society has revealed the winners of its 7th Annual North Dakota Film Society Awards, honoring outstanding achievements in filmmaking of 2025. Ryan Coogler’s Sinners emerged as this year’s biggest winner, taking home Best Picture, Best Ensemble, Best Cinematography, and Best Original Score.

Other notable winners include Paul Thomas Anderson, who was recognized with Best Director and Best Screenplay for One Battle After Another, which also earned Best Editing and Best Supporting Actor for Sean Penn’s electric performance. Jessie Buckley was awarded Best Actress for Hamnet, while Timothée Chalamet won Best Actor for Marty Supreme. This is Chalamet’s second year in a row being named the year’s Best Actor; he was awarded last year for A Complete Unknown. The acting categories were further highlighted by Amy Madigan, who received Best Supporting Actress for Weapons.

Other winners included Avatar: Fire and Ash for Best Visual Effects, Frankenstein for Best Costume Design, Best Makeup & Hairstyling, and Best Production Design, and Sirāt for Best Sound. International cinema was celebrated with Norway’s Sentimental Value winning Best International Feature, while the documentary The Perfect Neighbor earned Best Documentary Feature.

Here is the complete list of winners.

Best Picture

SINNERS
Ryan Coogler, Zinzi Coogler, Sev Ohanian

Best Director

Paul Thomas Anderson
ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER

Best Actress

Jessie Buckley
HAMNET

Best Actor

Timothée Chalamet
MARTY SUPREME

Best Supporting Actress

Amy Madigan
WEAPONS

Best Supporting Actor

Sean Penn
ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER

Best Ensemble

SINNERS
Miles Caton, Michael B. Jordan, Jayme Lawson, Li Jun Li, Delroy Lindo, Wunmi Mosaku, Jack O’Connell, Hailee Steinfeld

Best Screenplay

ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER
Paul Thomas Anderson

Best Cinematography

SINNERS
Autumn Durald Arkapaw

Best Costume Design

FRANKENSTEIN
Kate Hawley
(Netflix)

Best Editing

ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER
Andy Jurgensen

Best Visual Effects

AVATAR: FIRE AND ASH
Richard Baneham, Daniel Barrett, Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon

Best Makeup & Hairstyling

FRANKENSTEIN
Cliona Furey, Mike Hill, Jordan Samuel

Best Original Score

SINNERS
Ludwig Göransson

Best Original Song

KPOP DEMON HUNTERS
”Golden”
EJAE and Mark Sonnenblick

Best Production Design

FRANKENSTEIN
Tamara Deverell

Best Sound

SIRAT
Laia Casanovas

Best Animated Feature

ZOOTOPIA 2
Jared Bush, Byron Howard, Yvett Merino

Best Documentary Feature

THE PERFECT NEIGHBOR
Alisa Payne, Geeta Gandbhir, Nikon Kwantu, Sam Bisbee

Best International Feature

SENTIMENTAL VALUE
Norway

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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.