The 21st annual Black Reel Awards announced its list of film nominees on Thursday.
“One Night in Miami” leads the way with a whopping 15 nominations, just two shy of the record 17 nominations received by Marvel’s “Black Panther” (2018).
“Last year was a historic year in film, if for no other reason than there were more films released than ever before by Black filmmakers, featuring a tremendous amount of quality performances by a group of tireless creatives, who overcame unique challenges to create a group of memorable and indelible images,” founder Tim Gordon said.
“Miami,” which explores a meeting between Malcolm X, Cassius Clay, Jim Brown and Sam Cooke, earned the following nominations:
- Best Picture
- Best Actor (Kingsley Ben-Adir)
- Best Supporting Actor (Leslie Odom, Jr. and Aldis Hodge)
- Best Screenplay (Kemp Powers)
- Best Director (Regina King, the first actress ever to receive a directing nod).
“Judas and the Black Messiah,” came in second with 12 nominations, including the following:
- Best Actor (Lakeith Stanfield)
- Best Supporting Actor (Daniel Kaluuya)
- Best Supporting Actress (Dominique Fishback)
- Best Screenplay (Will Berson and Shaka King)
- Best Director (King).
The film follows the assassination of Illinois Black Panther Chairman Fred Hampton (Kaluuya).
“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” came in third with 10 nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actress (Viola Davis), and Best Actor (Chadwick Boseman in his final role). Boseman becomes the first male actor and the second overall actor to receive posthumous nods.
This year was notable for several record-setting individual achievements. Most notably, it was the first year where the majority of the nominated directors were women.
Radha Blanks received seven nominations for her debut film, “The Forty-Year-Old Version,” becoming the most nominated individual in Black Reel Awards history for a single film.
In addition, Dawn Porter becomes the first director to earn multiple nominations in the Best Documentary category for both “John Lewis: Good Trouble” and “The Way I See It.”
Meanwhile, Pixar’s “Soul” becomes the first animated film to earn a Best Screenplay nomination and the second animated film nominated for Best Picture after “The Princess and the Frog.”
Overall, Netflix leads with 36 nominations, followed by Amazon (23) and Warner Bros. (14).
“We look forward to creatives continuing to tell our stories and we congratulate all of this year’s talented nominees,” Gordon said.
This year’s winners will be announced virtually from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Sunday, April 11.
The Black Reel Awards is an annual awards ceremony hosted by the Foundation for the Augmentation of African-Americans in Film to recognize the excellence of African-Americans, as well as the cinematic achievements of the African diaspora.
The awards were first presented in D.C. back in 2000.
