Hollywood’s best known names turned up to celebrate outstanding achievements in film as selected by the African American Film Critics Association as the organization held its 15th annual awards ceremony, hosted for a second time by Roy Wood, Jr. Wednesday night in Beverly Hills.
The ballroom at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills was filled with excitement, and lots of love, as the audience honored not only the winners but those who presented them with their awards.
Among the honorary awards recipients were prima ballerina Misty Copeland, director George C. Wolfe and actor Jeffrey Wright.
Kicking off the night’s festivities, Sterling K. Brown was awarded best supporting actor for his role in “American Fiction,”playing the newly openly gay brother of Wright’s lead character Monk. His wife, actress Ryan Michelle Bathe held back tears as she presented her husband and former “This Is Us” star with the award.
“I want to thank God for allowing me to live long enough to recognize the beauty in all humanity,” Brown said. “As a cis-gender heterosexual male from St. Louis, Missouri, I cannot honestly tell you that that has always been the case. In my youth, I was infinitely more concerned with what differentiates us rather than what makes us the same.” He also shouted out the LGBTQ community for their support.
“American Fiction’s” first-time director Cord Jefferson was honored with the Emerging Filmmaker award. His debut film has landed him five Oscar nominations, including for best picture and adapted screenplay.
The film’s lead actor Wright was also recognized for the longevity of his prolific acting career with the Acting Legend Award, a special honor that highlighted his work in “Basquiat,” “Shaft,” “Westworld” and other projects since his first roles in the ’90s.
For best supporting actress, trying to decide between two roles of greatness was tough for AAFCA voters. And who can blame them? That meant there was a tie between “The Color Purple’s” Danielle Brooks and Da’Vine Joy Randolph of “The Holdovers.”
Both women gave rousing speeches to an audience that gave them each a standing ovation.
The two had started their careers at the same time, when Randolph was at Yale and Brooks at Juilliard. “To get to share this moment with her, it means something. At the time, it felt like there could only be one of us and that is not true. We’re breaking that,” Brooks said during her acceptance speech.
When she took the podium, Randolph disclosed that she intentionally honored Black culture in her roles by inserting references and styles of dress and hair that she knew Black audiences would greatly appreciate.
Here is the full list of winners:
Best Drama: Origin
Best Comedy: American Fiction
Best Musical: The Color Purple
Best Director: Ava DuVernay (Origin)
Best Screenplay: American Fiction
Best Actor: Colman Domingo (Rustin)
Best Actress: Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor (Origin)
Best Supporting Actor: Sterling K. Brown (American Fiction)
Best Supporting Actress: *TIE* Da’Vine Joy Randolph (The Holdovers), Danielle Brooks (The Color Purple)
Best Ensemble: The Color Purple
Breakout Performance: Lily Gladstone (Killers of the Flower Moon)
Emerging Filmmaker: Cord Jefferson (American Fiction)
Best Independent Feature: A Thousand and One
Best Animated Feature: Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Best Documentary: Stamped From The Beginning
Best Music: The Color Purple
Best International Film: Io Capitano
Best Short Film: The After
AAFCA’S TOP 10 FILMS OF THE YEAR
- American Fiction
- Origin
- The Color Purple
- Oppenheimer
- Past Lives
- Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
- Poor Things
- Anatomy of a Fall
- Killers of the Flower Moon
- Barbie
