2024 Black Reel Awards (BRA): ‘Nickel Boys’ Wins Six Including Outstanding Film

Nickel Boys was the big winner of the 2024 Black Reel Awards (BRA), taking six prizes including Outstanding Film, Outstanding Director (RaMell Ross, Outstanding Screenplay (Ross and Joslyn Barnes) and Outstanding Cinematography. The Best Picture Oscar-nominated film also earned wins for Ross as Outstanding Emerging Director for the Ross and Barnes again for Outstanding First Screenplay.

Malcolm Washington’s debut feature The Piano Lesson was next with four wins; Outstanding Supporting Performance for Danielle Deadwyler, Outstanding Ensemble and for the film’s production design and makeup. Minhail Bing’s We Grown Now was a double winner, for independent film and editing, as was The Wild Robot, which won for Kris Bowers’ score and the voice work of Lupita Nyong’o.

Marianne Jean-Baptiste won the Outstanding Lead Performance for her work in Hard Truths, which was also named Outstanding International Film.

Outstanding Original Song went to the Oscar-nominated “The Journey” from The Six Triple Eight, performed by H.E.R. and written by Diane Warren. Wicked won a pair for its costumes and soundtrack.

Here is the complete list of winners.

OUTSTANDING FILM
“Challengers” | Luca Guadagnino, Rachel O’Connor, Amy Pascal & Zendaya, producers
“Exhibiting Forgiveness” | Stephanie Allain, Derek Cianfrance, Sean Cotton, Titus Kaphar & Jamie Patricof, producers
“Nickel Boys” | Joslyn Barnes, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner & David Levin, producers – WINNER
“The Piano Lesson” | Todd Black & Denzel Washington, producers
“Sing Sing” | Clint Bentley, Greg Kwedar & Monique Walton, producers

OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR
Titus Kaphar | “Exhibiting Forgiveness”
Zoë Kravitz | “Blink Twice”
Steve McQueen | “Blitz”
RaMell Ross | “Nickel Boys” – WINNER
Malcolm Washington | “The Piano Lesson”

OUTSTANDING LEAD PERFORMANCE
Naomi Ackie | “Blink Twice”
Ryan Destiny | “The Fire Inside”
Colman Domingo | “Sing Sing”
Cynthia Erivo | “Wicked”
Andre Holland | “Exhibiting Forgiveness”
Marianne Jean-Baptiste | “Hard Truths” – WINNER
Regina King | “Shirley”
John David Washington | “The Piano Lesson”
Kerry Washington | “The Six Triple Eight”
Zendaya | “Challengers”

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE
Danielle Deadwyler | “The Piano Lesson” – WINNER
Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor | “Exhibiting Forgiveness”
Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor | “Nickel Boys”
Brian Tyree Henry | “The Fire Inside”
Clarence Maclin | “Sing Sing”
Lashana Lynch | “Bob Marley: One Love”
Zoe Saldaña | “Emilia Pérez”
Jurnee Smollett | “We Grown Now”
Denzel Washington | “Gladiator II”
Brandon Wilson | “Nickel Boys”

OUTSTANDING SCREENPLAY
“Blitz” | Steve McQueen
“Exhibiting Forgiveness” | Titus Kaphar
“The Fire Inside” | Barry Jenkins
“Nickel Boys” | RaMell Ross & Joslyn Barnes – WINNER
“The Piano Lesson” | Malcolm Washington & Virgil Williams

OUTSTANDING DOCUMENTARY (awarded to the director)
“Dahomey” | Mati Diop, director
“Daughters” | Angela Patton & Natalie Rae, directors
“Luther: Never Too Much” | Dawn Porter, director – WINNER
“Piece by Piece” | Morgan Neville, director
“Seeking Mavis Beacon” | Jazmin Renée Jones, director

OUTSTANDING INTERNATIONAL FILM (awarded to the country)
“Bird” | United Kingdom
“Emilia Pérez” | France
“Hard Truths” | United Kingdom – WINNER
“Old Righteous Blues” | South Africa
“Nine” | South Africa

OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE (awarded to the casting director)
“Exhibiting Forgiveness” | Kim Coleman, casting director
“Hard Truths” | Nina Gold, casting director
“Nickel Boys” | Victoria Thomas, casting director
“The Piano Lesson” | Lindsay Graham & Mary Vernieu, casting directors – WINNER
“Sing Sing” | Greg Kwedar, casting director

OUTSTANDING VOICE PERFORMANCE
Ayo Edebiri | “Inside Out 2”
Brian Tyree Henry | “Transformers One”
Dwayne Johnson | “Moana 2”
Lupita Nyong’o | “The Wild Robot” – WINNER
Aaron Pierre | “Mufasa: The Lion King”

OUTSTANDING INDEPENDENT FILM (awarded to the director)
“Albany Road” | Christine Swanson, director
“Blink Twice” | Zoë Kravitz, director
“Hard Truths” | Mike Leigh, director
“I Saw the TV Glow” | Jane Schoenbrun, director
“We Grown Now” | Minhal Baig, director – WINNER

OUTSTANDING SHORT FILM (awarded to the director)
“Chocolate With Sprinkles” | Huriyyah Muhammad, director – WINNER
“Mosiah” | Jirard, director
“On a Sunday at Eleven” | Alicia K. Harris, director
“Self” | Searit Kahsay Huluf, director
“Will I See You Again?” | Michael Perez-Lindsey, director

OUTSTANDING SCORE (awarded to the composer)
“Blink Twice” | Chandra Dancy, composer
“Bob Marley: One Love” | Kris Bowers, composer
“The Fire Inside” | Tamar-kali, composer
“Saturday Night” | Jon Batiste, composer
“The Wild Robot” | Kris Bowers, composer – WINNER

OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SONG (awarded to the performers & writers)
“Bricks” from “Exhibiting Forgiveness” | Andra Day, performer; Cassandra Batie & Jherek Bischoff, writers
“El Mal” from “Emilia Pérez” | Zoe Saldaña, Karla Sofía Gascón & Camille, performers; Clément Ducol, Camille & Jacques Audiard, writers
“The Journey” from “The Six Triple Eight” | H.E.R., performer; Dianne Warren, writer – WINNER
“Like a Bird” from “Sing Sing” | Adrian Quesada & Abraham Alexander, performers; Adrian Quesada, Abraham Alexander & Brandon Marcel, writers
“Piece by Piece” from “Piece by Piece” | Pharrell Williams and Princess Anne High School Fabulous Marching Cavaliers, performers; Pharrell Williams, writer

OUTSTANDING SOUNDTRACK
“Bob Marley: One Love” – Tuff Gong / Island
“Mufasa: The Lion King” – Walt Disney Records
“Piece by Piece” – Columbia / I AM Other
“Wicked” – Republic / Verve – WINNER
“The Wild Robot” – Black Lot Music

OUTSTANDING EMERGING DIRECTOR
Titus Kaphar | “Exhibiting Forgiveness”
Zoë Kravitz | “Blink Twice”
RaMell Moss | “Nickel Boys” – WINNER
Angela Patton | “Daughters”
Malcolm Washington | “The Piano Lesson”

OUTSTANDING BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE
Naomi Ackie | “Blink Twice”
Ryan Destiny | “The Fire Inside”
Ray Fisher | “The Piano Lesson”
Elliot Heffernan | “Blitz”
Ethan Herisse | “Nickel Boys”
Blake Cameron James | “We Grown Now”
Jharrel Jerome | “Unstoppable”
Clarence Maclin | “Sing Sing” – WINNER
Lamorne Morris | “Saturday Night”
Brandon Wilson | “Nickel Boys”

OUTSTANDING FIRST SCREENPLAY (awarded for the debut screenplay by a first-time writer)
“Blink Twice” | Zoë Kravitz
“Exhibiting Forgiveness” | Titus Kaphar
“Nickel Boys” | RaMell Moss & Joslyn Barnes – WINNER
“Parallel” | Aldis & Edwin Hodge
“The Piano Lesson” | Malcolm Washington

OUTSTANDING CINEMATOGRAPHY
“Ernest Cole: Lost and Found” | Wolfgang Held & Moses Tau, cinematographers
“Luther: Never Too Much” | Bryan Gentry, cinematographer
“Nickel Boys” | Jomo Fray, cinematographer – WINNER
“Rez Ball” | Kira Kelly, cinematographer
“Suncoast” | Bruce Francis Cole, cinematographer

OUTSTANDING COSTUME DESIGN
“The Book of Clarence” | Antoinette Messam, costume designer
“The Piano Lesson” | Francine Jamison-Tanchuck, costume designer
“Shirley” | Megan Coates, costume designer
“We Grown Now” | Courtney Wheeler, costume designer
“Wicked” | Paul Tazewell, costume designer – WINNER

OUTSTANDING EDITING
“Daughters” | Adelina Bichis & Troy Lewis, editors
“Hard Truths” | Tania Reddin, editor
“Seeking Mavis Beacon” | Yeelen Nelson Cohen, Jon Fine & Jazmin Renée Jones, editors
“Twisters” | Terilyn A. Shropshire, editor
“We Grown Now” | Stephanie Filo, editor – WINNER

OUTSTANDING HAIRSTYLING & MAKEUP
“Bob Marley: One Love” | Nadia Stacy & Carla Farmer
“The Book of Clarence” | Allison Lacour, Wayne Jolla Jr. & Yolanda Mercadel
“Nickel Boys” | Iganica Soto-Aguilar & Shandrea Williams
“The Piano Lesson” | Andrea ‘Mona’ Bowman & Para Shardé Malden – WINNER
“Shirley” | Nakoya Yancey & Debi Young

OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION DESIGN
“Nickel Boys” | Nora Mendis (production designer), Elizabeth Herberg (art director) & Monique Champagne (set decorator)
“Nine” | Gilbert Ekow Ampah (production designer) & Edmund Johnson (set decorator)
“The Piano Lesson” | David J. Bomba (production designer), Chardae Adams (art director) & Patrick Cassidy (set decorator) – WINNER

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Erik Anderson

Erik Anderson is the founder/owner and Editor-in-Chief of AwardsWatch and has always loved all things Oscar, having watched the Academy Awards since he was in single digits; making lists, rankings and predictions throughout the show. This led him down the path to obsessing about awards. Much later, he found himself in film school and the film forums of GoldDerby, and then migrated over to the former Oscarwatch (now AwardsDaily), before breaking off to create AwardsWatch in 2013.

He is a Rotten Tomatoes-approved critic, accredited by the Cannes Film Festival, Telluride Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and more, is a member of the International Cinephile Society (ICS), The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics (GALECA), Critics Choice Association (CCA), San Francisco Bay Area Film Critics Circle (SFBAFCC) and the International Press Academy. Among his many achieved goals with AwardsWatch, he has given a platform to underrepresented writers and critics and supplied them with access to film festivals and the industry and calls the Bay Area his home where he lives with his husband and son.

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