Black Reel Awards Reveals Winners Of Film And Television Categories; ‘American Fiction’ And ‘The Color Purple’ Took Home Top Honors

Cord Jefferson’s American Fiction took home top honors at the 24th Annual Black Reel Awards.

Cord Jefferson’s directorial debut, based on novelist Percival Ellison’s Erasure, took home six Black Reel Awards including Outstanding Picture. Jefferson was the biggest single winner of the night. Jefferson nabbed awards on five nominations, marking the most wins in a single night in Black Reel Award history. Jefferson also became the first person to sweep all the directing and writing awards in the same year. To round out the total victories for Jefferson’s film, Jeffrey Wright secured the award for Outstanding Lead Performance bringing Fiction’s total to six on the night. Wright became the thirteenth actor to win awards for Lead and Supporting Performances in their career.

Oprah Winfrey’s production of the musical version of The Color Purple was awarded the most Black Reel Awards with a grand total of nine awards and became the most awarded musical in Black Reel Awards history. The honors included Outstanding Supporting Performance for Danielle Brooks, Outstanding Ensemble, Outstanding Original Song, Soundtrack and Breakthrough Performance for Fantasia Barrino. Fantasia became the second American Idol alumni to win a Black Reel Award for acting.

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, the only animated film to be recognized at the awards this year, brought home two awards. Shameik Moore won his second award for Voice Performance and set the bar for the number of wins in that field. Spider-Verse also set a record for being the only animated film to win a Bolt for Outstanding Editing.

On the television side, as a part of the combined awards announcement, Abbott Elementary was the leader, bringing home four Black Reel Television Awards. Elementary won Outstanding Comedy Series and all the acting awards in the comedy category.

Snowfall was the big winner in the tight races of the drama categories, taking away two wins. While Snowfall won for Outstanding Drama Series, Damson Idris was awarded Outstanding Lead Performance for his work on the final season of the show.

In the TV Movie/Limited Series Categories, The Best Man: The Final Chapters and P-Valley tied for most wins with three each. The Best Man finale won for Outstanding Series, Directing and Music Supervision. P-Valley won Original Song, Costume Design and Makeup. Swarm’s Dominique Fishback took home the award for Outstanding Lead Performance.

FX claimed the win for networks. Fueled by the success of Snowfall and Atlanta, the network claimed six total awards. ABC and Starz tied for second place with four Bolts each thanks to Abbott Elementary and P-Valley respectively.

Congratulations to all the winners and nominees this year!

The complete list of winners is listed below.

24th Annual Black Reel Award Winners

OUTSTANDING FILM

American Fiction (Amazon MGM Studios) | Ben LeClair, Nikos Karamigios, Cord Jefferson & Jermaine Johnson, producers

OUTSTANDING LEAD PERFORMANCE

Jeffrey Wright | American Fiction (Amazon MGM Studios)

OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR

Cord Jefferson | American Fiction (Amazon MGM Studios)

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE

Danielle Brooks | The Color Purple (Warner Bros.)

OUTSTANDING SCREENPLAY

American Fiction (Amazon MGM Studios) | Cord Jefferson

OUTSTANDING DOCUMENTARY (awarded to the director)

Little Richard: I Am Everything (Magnolia Pictures) | Lisa Cortés, director

OUTSTANDING INTERNATIONAL FILM (awarded to the director)

Rye Lane (UK) | Raine Allen-Miller, director

OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE (awarded to the casting director)

The Color Purple (Warner Bros.) | Tiffany Little Canfield, Destiny Lilly & Bernard Telsey, casting directors

OUTSTANDING VOICE PERFORMANCE

Shameik Moore | Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Sony Pictures)

OUTSTANDING INDEPENDENT FILM (awarded to the director)

A Thousand and One (Focus Features) | A.V. Rockwell, director

OUTSTANDING SHORT FILM (awarded to the director)

Black Girls Play: The Story of Hand Games (ESPN Films) | Joe Brewster & Michéle Stephenson, directors

OUTSTANDING SCORE (awarded to the composer)

The Color Purple (Warner Bros.) | Kris Bowers, composer

OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SONG (awarded to the performers & writers)

“Keep It Moving” (From The Color Purple) | Halle Bailey & Phylicia Pearl Mpasi, performers; Halle Bailey, Denisia Andrews, Brittany Coney & Morten Ristorp, writers

OUTSTANDING SOUNDTRACK

The Color Purple

OUTSTANDING EMERGING DIRECTOR

Cord Jefferson | American Fiction (Amazon MGM Studios)

OUTSTANDING BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE

Fantasia Barrino | The Color Purple (Warner Bros.)

OUTSTANDING FIRST SCREENPLAY

American Fiction (Amazon MGM Studios) | Cord Jefferson

OUTSTANDING CINEMATOGRAPHY

All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt (A24) | Jomo Fray, cinematographer

OUTSTANDING COSTUME DESIGN

The Color Purple (Warner Bros.) | Francine Jamison-Tanchuck, costume designer

OUTSTANDING EDITING

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Sony Pictures) | Michael Andrews, editor

OUTSTANDING HAIRSTYLING & MAKEUP

The Color Purple (Warner Bros.) | Carol Rasheed, makeup department head & Lawrence Davis, hair department head

COMEDY CATEGORIES

Outstanding Comedy Series

Abbott Elementary | Quinta Brunson, showrunner (ABC)

Outstanding Lead Performance in a Comedy Series

Quinta Brunson | Abbott Elementary (ABC)

Outstanding Supporting Performance in a Comedy Series

Sheryl Lee Ralph | Abbott Elementary(ABC)

Outstanding Directing in a Comedy Series

The Goof Who Sat By the Door (Atlanta) | Donald Glover, director – FX

Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series

It Was All A Dream (Atlanta) | Donald Glover, writer – FX

Outstanding Guest Performance in a Comedy Series

Taraji P. Henson | Abbott Elementary (ABC)

DRAMA CATEGORIES

Outstanding Drama Series

Snowfall | Dave Andron, showrunner (FX)

Outstanding Lead Performance in a Drama Series

Damson Idris | Snowfall (FX)

Outstanding Supporting Performance in a Drama Series

Giancarlo Esposito | Better Call Saul (AMC)

Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series

Reasonable Doubt | Kerry Washington, director – HULU

Outstanding Writing in a Drama Series

Queen to Be | Shonda Rhimes, writer (Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story) – Nextflix

Outstanding Guest Performance in a Drama Series

Storm Reid | The Last of Us (HBO)

TV MOVIE/LIMITED SERIES CATEGORIES

Outstanding TV Movie or Limited Series

The Best Man: The Final Chapters | Malcolm D. Lee & Dayna Lynne North, showrunners (Peacock)

Outstanding Lead Performance in a TV Movie/Limited Series

Dominique Fishback | Swarm (Amazon Prime Video)

Outstanding Supporting Performance in a TV Movie/Limited Series

Niecy Nash-Betts | Dahmer-Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story (Netflix)

Outstanding Directing in a TV Movie or Limited Series

Brown Girl Dreaming (The Best Man: The Final Chapters) | Robert Townsend, director – Peacock

Outstanding Writing in a TV Movie or Limited Series

Running Scared (Swarm) | Ibra Ake & Stephen Glover, writers – Amazon Prime Video

VARIETY / SKETCH / TALK 

Outstanding Variety, Sketch, or Talk – Series or Special

A Black Lady Sketch Show (HBO)



DOCUMENTARY

Outstanding Documentary

Dear Mama | Allen Hughes, director – FX

MUSIC CATEGORIES

Outstanding Musical Score

Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story (Netflix) | Kris Bowers, composer

Outstanding Music Supervision

The Best Man: The Final Chapters | Erica Grayson & Toko Nagata, music supervisors (Peacock)

Outstanding Original Song

“Get It on the Floor” (P-Valley) | Megan Thee Stallion & J. Alphonse Nicholson (artists); Julian Manson, Antwon D. Moore, Megan Thee Stallion, Kelton Lanier Scott II, Sarah Bromberg, Stephanie Diaz-Matos & Katori Hall (writers) – Starz

PROFESSIONAL CATEGORIES

Outstanding Cinematography

Kindred | Cybel Martin, cinematographer  (FX on Hulu)

Outstanding Costume Design

P-Valley | Tiffany Hasbourne, costume designer  (Starz)

Outstanding Editing

Power Book II: Ghost | Spenser Reich, editor (Starz)

Outstanding Makeup & Hairstyling

P-Valley | J. Denelle, Makeup Department Head & Arlene Martin, Hair Department Head (Starz)

Outstanding Production Design

Kindred  | Nora Mendis, production designer (FX on HULU)

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