Hello, friends and followers!
The Chicago Indie Critics have announced our choices for the best in film 2025 with our Windie Awards and the big winner was SINNERS.
SINNERS took home 10 prizes including Best Studio Film, Best Director and Best Actor. FRANKENSTEIN and ONE BATTLE AFTER ANOTHER tied for second with three awards each.
Below is the entire list, most of which, I dare say, looks a lot like the ballot I submitted. (I am a huge SINNERS fan.) Congrats to all our picks and to all my colleagues at the Chicago Indie Critics for their inspired choices.
BEST STUDIO FILM
Sinners
Producers: Zinzi Coogler, Sev Ohanian, and Ryan Coogler
BEST INDEPENDENT FILM
Train Dreams
Producers: Marissa McMahon, Teddy Schwarzman, Will Janowitz, Ashley Schlaifer, and Michael Heimler
BEST INTERNATIONAL FILM
Sentimental Value
Producers: Maria Ekerhovd and Andrea Berentsen Ottmar
BEST DOCUMENTARY
John Candy: I Like Me
Producers: Colin Hanks, Johnny Pariseau, George Dewey, Shane Reid, Ryan Reynolds, Sean Stuart, and
Glen Zipper
BEST ANIMATED FILM
KPop Demon Hunters
Producers: Maggie Kang, Chris Applehans, and Michelle Wong
BEST DIRECTOR
Ryan Coogler – Sinners
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Sinners – Ryan Coogler
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
One Battle After Another – Paul Thomas Anderson
BEST ACTOR
Michael B. Jordan – Sinners
BEST ACTRESS
Jessie Buckley – Hamnet
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Sean Penn – One Battle After Another
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Madigan – Weapons
BEST ENSEMBLE
Sinners – Francine Maisler (casting director)
BREAKOUT PERFORMER
Chase Infiniti – One Battle After Another
BREAKOUT BEHIND-THE-SCENES
Eva Victor – Sorry, Baby
SIGHT UNSEEN PERFORMANCE
Oona Chaplin – Avatar: Fire and Ash
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Sinners – Autumn Durald Arkapaw
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
Frankenstein – Tamara Deverell
BEST EDITING
Sinners – Michael P. Shawver
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Frankenstein – Kate Hawley
BEST MAKEUP
Frankenstein – Mike Hill, Jordan Samuel, and Cliona Furey
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Avatar: Fire and Ash – Joe Letteri, Richard Baneham, Eric Saindon, and Daniel Barrett
BEST STUNTS
Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning – Wade Eastwood
BEST SOUND
Sinners – Chris Welcker, Benny Burtt, Brandon Proctor, Steve Boeddeker, and Felipe Pacheco
BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Sinners – Ludwig Göransson
BEST ORIGINAL SONG
“I Lied to You” (Sinners)
Written by Raphael Saadiq and Ludwig Göransson
THE IMPACT AWARD
Michael Phillips – former film critic of The Chicago Tribune
WINDIE AWARD WINNERS BY THE NUMBERS
10: Sinners
3: Frankenstein, One Battle After Another
2: Avatar: Fire and Ash
1: Hamnet, John Candy: I Like Me, KPop Demon Hunters, Mission: Impossible – The Final Reckoning,
Sentimental Value, Train Dreams, Weapons
