Inside the National Jury Gala: Leonardo DiCaprio, Ryan Coogler

Ryan Coogler took a moment to mention the shooting death of Renee Nicole Good during his acceptance speech at the National Board of Review Awards Ceremony in midtown Manhattan on Tuesday night. The filmmaker, who was presented with the original screenplay award for Sinners by longtime collaborator Michael B. Jordan, reflected on their shared history with NBR, noting that he and Jordan first received NBR recognition for 2014’s Fruitvale Station. Coogler drew a clear connection between his directorial debut, which is based on the true story of the 2009 killing of Oscar Grant by a Bay Area Rapid Transit police officer in Oakland, California, and Goode’s shooting death by ICE officers in Minneapolis earlier this month.

“When I was young and naive, I thought this movie was going to change the world and that we would never see people executed by public officials on camera anymore,” Coogler said of “Fruitvale Station.” “I’ve been proven wrong time and time again. And it’s hard to be here and not think about Minnesota.”

He added: “I can’t sit here and not think about Renee.”

Mr. Coogler was one of the winners at the star-studded awards ceremony held at the Cipriani 42nd Street Ballroom. The National Board of Review, an organization that includes film enthusiasts, filmmakers, professionals and academics, announced its winners in December, with “One Battle After Another” taking the honors.

Among the accolades for director Paul Thomas Anderson’s action blockbuster was a Best Actor win for Leonardo DiCaprio. On stage, the Oscar-winning actor recalled some film experiences from his youth at the Vista, a neighborhood theater in Los Angeles.

“Like many theaters in America, this one came close to closing a few years ago, but over a century later, it’s still here,” DiCaprio said. “The historic single-screen palace continues to fulfill its original role: bringing people together in the dark to experience movies as they were originally intended.”

“As I kept watching, something changed in me. Movies became an escape from the limitations of my surroundings. Movies weren’t just entertainment. They were a place to escape from the neighborhood, a place where I felt like something bigger than my life was possible. I would leave the theater completely buzzing, knowing there was something beyond the world, beyond this world I was born into, and that I had to find a way to be a part of it.”

“At some point, each of us was sitting in a theater, a movie theater. The lights went down and something on that screen rearranged the way we saw the world and ourselves. As an adult, I came to understand that film is our most defining art form. Film is collaborative, communal, and has a unique ability to express the human condition and what it means to be human.”

In addition to DiCaprio’s Best Actor win, One Battle After Another was named NBR’s Best Film of 2025, Anderson won Best Director, Benicio Del Toro won Best Supporting Actor, and Chase Infinity was recognized for his breakthrough performance. Other winners include Rose Byrne (“If I Had Legs I’d Kick You”) for Best Actress; Best directorial debut went to Eva Victor (“Sorry, Baby”). Best Supporting Actress went to Inga Ybsdotter Lileas (“Sentimental Value”). Best International Film went to Jafar Panahi (“It Was Just an Accident”). Clint Bentley and Greg Kweder won Best Original Screenplay (“Train Dreams”). Autumn Durard Alcapeau for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography (“Sinners”). Hugo Bienvenue and Sophie Mass won Best Animated Feature (“Arco”). Wade Eastwood: Outstanding Achievement in the Arts of Stunt (“Mission: Impossible: The Last Judgment”). Laura Poitras, Mark Obenhaus, Yoni Golikhoff and Olivia Streisand won Best Documentary (“Cover-Up”). and Richard Lorber won the NBR Freedom of Expression Award (“Walk with your soul in your hands”).

See photos from this year’s National Board of Review Awards ceremony below.