The WAFCA Awards are DC’s ultimate celebration of the year’s best in film. Covering 22 categories, they shine a spotlight on standout achievements in directing, acting, screenwriting, and more—including the Joe Barber Award for Best Portrayal of Washington, DC. From big-budget blockbusters to indie hits, the WAFCA Awards honor the movies that move us and the storytellers behind them.
Since 2002, the WAFCA Awards have been a key voice in awards season, recognizing unforgettable performances and groundbreaking films. Early winners included Chris Cooper in Adaptation and Dennis Haysbert in Far from Heaven, with recent honors going to Everything Everywhere All at Once, Wicked, and standout performances from Colman Domingo and Mikey Madison.
WAFCA UNVEILS WINNERS OF 2025 AWARDS
Film
WINNER: Sinners (Warner Bros.)
Hamnet (Focus Features)
Marty Supreme (A24)
One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)
Sentimental Value (Neon)
Director
WINNER: Ryan Coogler – Sinners (Warner Bros.)
Chloé Zhao – Hamnet (Focus Features)
Jafar Panahi – It Was Just an Accident (Neon)
Josh Safdie – Marty Supreme (A24)
Paul Thomas Anderson – One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)
Actor
WINNER: Michael B. Jordan – Sinners (Warner Bros.)
Ethan Hawke – Blue Moon (Sony Pictures Classics)
Joel Edgerton – Train Dreams (Netflix)
Leonardo DiCaprio – One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)
Timothée Chalamet – Marty Supreme (A24)
Actress
WINNER: Jessie Buckley – Hamnet (Focus Features)
Chase Infiniti – One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)
Cynthia Erivo – Wicked (Universal Pictures)
Renate Reinsve – Sentimental Value (Neon)
Rose Byrne – If I Had Legs I’d Kick You (A24)
Supporting Actor
WINNER: Benicio del Toro – One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)
Delroy Lindo – Sinners (Warner Bros.)
Jacob Elordi – Frankenstein (Netflix)
Sean Penn – One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)
Stellan Skarsgård – Sentimental Value (Neon)
Supporting Actress
WINNER: Teyana Taylor – One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)
Amy Madigan – Weapons (Warner Bros.)
Ariana Grande – Wicked (Universal Pictures)
Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas – Sentimental Value (Neon)
Wunmi Mosaku – Sinners (Warner Bros.)
Youth Performance
WINNER: Miles Caton – Sinners (Warner Bros.)
Cary Christopher – Weapons (Warner Bros.)
Jacobi Jupe – Hamnet (Focus Features)
Mason Thames – How to Train Your Dragon (Universal Pictures)
Nina Ye – Left-Handed Girl (Netflix)
Shannon Mahina Gorman – Rental Family (Searchlight Pictures)
Voice Performance
WINNER: Arden Cho – KPop Demon Hunters (Netflix)
Ginnifer Goodwin – Zootopia 2 (Walt Disney Studios)
Jason Bateman – Zootopia 2 (Walt Disney Studios)
Ke Huy Quan – Zootopia 2 (Walt Disney Studios)
Yonas Kibreab – Elio (Walt Disney Studios)
Performance Capture
WINNER: Zoe Saldaña – Avatar: Fire and Ash (20th Century Studios)
Oona Chaplin – Avatar: Fire and Ash (20th Century Studios)
Sam Worthington – Avatar: Fire and Ash (20th Century Studios)
Sigourney Weaver – Avatar: Fire and Ash (20th Century Studios)
Stephen Lang – Avatar: Fire and Ash (20th Century Studios)
Ensemble
WINNER: Sinners (Warner Bros.)
Hamnet (Focus Features)
It Was Just an Accident (Neon)
Marty Supreme (A24)
One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)
Sentimental Value (Neon)
Wake Up Dead Man (Netflix)
Original Screenplay
WINNER: Sinners (Warner Bros.)
It Was Just an Accident (Neon)
Marty Supreme (A24)
Sentimental Value (Neon)
Weapons (Warner Bros.)
Adapted Screenplay
WINNER: One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)
Bugonia (Focus Features)
Frankenstein (Netflix)
Hamnet (Focus Features)
Train Dreams (Netflix)
Animated Feature
WINNER: KPop Demon Hunters (Netflix)
Arco (Neon)
Elio (Walt Disney Studios)
Little Amélie or the Character of the Rain (GKIDS)
Zootopia 2 (Walt Disney Studios)
Production Design
WINNER: Sinners (Warner Bros.)
Frankenstein (Netflix)
Hamnet (Focus Features)
The Fantastic Four: First Steps (Walt Disney Studios)
Wicked: For Good (Universal Pictures)
Cinematography
WINNER: Sinners (Warner Bros.)
Frankenstein (Netflix)
Marty Supreme (A24)
One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)
Train Dreams (Netflix)
Editing
WINNERS: Sinners (Warner Bros.) [tie]
WINNERS: F1: The Movie (Apple Original Films) [tie]
Hamnet (Focus Features)
Marty Supreme (A24)
One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)
Score
WINNER: Sinners (Warner Bros.)
Frankenstein (Netflix)
Hamnet (Focus Features)
Marty Supreme (A24)
One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)
Documentary
WINNER: The Perfect Neighbor (Netflix)
Come See Me in the Good Light (Apple Original Films)
Orwell: 2+2=5 (Neon)
Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk (Kino Lorber)
The Librarians (HBO Documentary Films)
Foreign Language Film
WINNER: Sentimental Value (Neon)
It Was Just an Accident (Neon)
Left-Handed Girl (Netflix)
No Other Choice (Neon)
The Secret Agent (Neon)
-WAFCA ALSO HONORS-
Joe Barber Award for Portrayal of Washington, DC
WINNER: A House of Dynamite (Netflix)
Anniversary (Lionsgate)
Captain America: Brave New World (Walt Disney Studios)
Nuremberg (Sony Pictures Classics)
Thunderbolts (Walt Disney Studios)
Stunts
WINNER: Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning (Paramount Pictures)
F1: The Movie (Apple Original Films)
One Battle After Another (Warner Bros.)
Sinners (Warner Bros.)
Superman (Warner Bros.)
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2024 WAFCA Award Winners:
Best Original Score:
“Blitz” – Hans Zimmer
WINNERS: “Challengers” – Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross
“Conclave” – Volker Bertelmann
“Nosferatu” – Robin Carolan
WINNERS: “The Brutalist” – Daniel Blumberg
“The Wild Robot” – Kris Bowers
Best Editing
WINNERS: “Anora” – Sean Baker
“Conclave” – Nick Emerson
WINNERS: “Dune: Part Two” – Joe Walker
“The Brutalist” – Dávid Jancsó
“Wicked” – Myron Kerstein
Best Cinematography
“Conclave” – Stéphane Fontaine
“Dune: Part Two” – Greig Fraser
“Nickel Boys” – Jomo Fray
WINNER: “Nosferatu” – Jarin Blaschke
“The Brutalist” – Lol Crawley
Best Production Design
“Dune: Part Two” – Patrice Vermette
“Gladiator II” – Arthur Max
“Nosferatu” – Craig Lathrop
“The Brutalist” – Judy Becker
WINNER: “Wicked” – Nathan Crowley
Best International Film
“Dahomey” – France, Senegal, Benin, Singapore
WINNER: “Emilia Pérez” – Mexico (setting), France, Belgium (shot)
“Flow” – Latvia, Belgium, France
“I’m Still Here” – Brazil, France
“The Seed of the Sacred Fig” – France, Iran (shot)
Best Documentary
“Dahomey” (MUBI)
“Daughters” (Netflix)
“Music by John Williams” (Disney+)
“No Other Land” (mTuckman Media)
WINNER: “Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story” (Warner Bros. Pictures)
“Will & Harper” (Netflix)
Best Animated Feature
“Flow” (Sideshow / Janus Films)
“Inside Out 2” (Disney/Pixar)
“Memoir of a Snail” (IFC Films)
WINNER: “The Wild Robot” (Universal Pictures)
“Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl” (Netflix)
Best Adapted Screenplay
WINNER: “Conclave” – written for the screen by Peter Straughan
“Dune: Part Two” – written for the screen by Denis Villeneuve, Jon Spaihts
“Nickel Boys” – written for the screen by RaMell Ross, Joslyn Barnes
“Sing Sing” – written for the screen by Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar
“Wicked” – written for the screen by Winnie Holzman, Dana Fox
Best Original Screenplay
“Anora” – Sean Baker
WINNER: “A Real Pain” – Jesse Eisenberg
“Challengers” – Justin Kuritzkes
“The Brutalist” – Brady Corbet, Mona Fastvold
“The Substance” – Coralie Fargeat
Best Youth Performance
Alisha Weir – “Abigail”
Alyla Browne – “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga”
WINNER: Elliott Heffernan – “Blitz”
Ian Foreman – “Exhibiting Forgiveness”
Isabel DeRoy–Olson – “Fancy Dance”
Izaac Wang – “Didi”
Zoe Ziegler – “Janet Planet”
Best Voice Performance
Amy Poehler – “Inside Out 2”
Auli’i Cravalho – “Moana 2”
Brian Tyree Henry – “Transformers One”
WINNER: Lupita Nyong’o – “The Wild Robot”
Maya Hawke – “Inside Out 2”
Best Acting Ensemble
“Anora” – Sean Baker, Emily Fleischer (casting associate)
WINNER: “Conclave” – Barbara Giordani, Nina Gold, Francesco Vedovati, Martin Ware
“Dune: Part Two” – Francine Maisler
“Sing Sing” – Greg Kwedar, Rita Powers (extras casting)
“The Brutalist” – Kristina Erdely, Cassandra Kulukundis
“Wicked” – Tiffany Little Canfield, Bernard Telsey
Best Supporting Actress
Ariana Grande – “Wicked”
Aunjanue Ellis–Taylor – “Nickel Boys”
WINNER: Danielle Deadwyler – “The Piano Lesson”
Isabella Rossellini – “Conclave”
Zoe Saldana – “Emilia Perez”
Best Supporting Actor
Clarence Maclin – “Sing Sing”
Denzel Washington – “Gladiator II”
Guy Pearce – “The Brutalist”
WINNER: Kieran Culkin – “A Real Pain”
Yura Borisov – “Anora”
Best Actress
Cynthia Erivo – “Wicked”
Demi Moore – “The Substance”
Karla Sofia Gascon – “Emilia Perez”
Marianne Jean–Baptiste – “Hard Truths”
WINNER: Mikey Madison – “Anora”
Best Actor
Adrien Brody – “The Brutalist”
WINNER: Colman Domingo – “Sing Sing”
Daniel Craig – “Queer”
Ralph Fiennes – “Conclave”
Timothée Chalamet – “A Complete Unknown”
Best Director
WINNER: Brady Corbet – “The Brutalist”
Denis Villeneuve – “Dune: Part Two”
Edward Berger – “Conclave”
Jon M. Chu – “Wicked”
Sean Baker – “Anora”
Best Feature
“Anora” (Neon)
“Conclave” (Focus Features)
“Sing Sing” (A24)
“The Brutalist” (A24)
WINNER: “Wicked” (Universal Pictures)
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WAFCA ALSO HONORS:
The Joe Barber Award for Best Portrayal of Washington, DC
WINNER: “Civil War”
“Daughters”
“Shirley”
“Stopping the Steal”
Best Motion Capture
Eka Darville – “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes”
Jonno Davies – “Better Man”
Kevin Durand – “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes”
WINNER: Owen Teague – “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes”
Peter Macon – “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes”
Best Stunts
“Deadpool and Wolverine” – Colin Follenweider (stunt coordinator), George Cottle (supervising stunt coordinator), Alex Kyshkovych (fight coordinator)
“Dune: Part Two” – Lee Morrison (Supervising Stunt Coordinator), Roger Yuan (Stunt Coordinator/Fight Coordinator), Gyula Toth (Assistant Stunt Coordinator)
“Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” – Guy Norris (action designer/supervising stunt coordinator)
“Gladiator II” – Nikki Berwick, Peter White (stunt coordinators), Ray Nicholas, Cali Nelle (fight coordinators)
WINNER: “The Fall Guy” – Chris O’Hara (stunt coordinator/stunt designer)