‘The Harder They Fall,’ ‘King Richard’ take top honors at African American Film Critics awards

The African American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) have announced their winners and The Harder They Fall and King Richard each won four awards with The Harder They Fall winning Best Picture, Best Ensemble, Best Music (Jeymes Samuel, Kid Cudi, Jay-Z) and Best Director (Jeymes Samuel) honors while King Richard won for Best Actor (Will Smith), Best Supporting Actress (Aunjanue Ellis), Breakout Actor (Saniyya Sidney) and Emerging Director (Reinaldo Marcus Green).

Other winners included Jennifer Hudson (Respect) for Best Actress, Corey Hawkins (The Tragedy of Macbeth) for Best Supporting Actor, Best Screenplay (Don’t Look Up, written by Adam McKay), Who We Are for Best Independent Feature and Summer of Soul for Best Documentary.

“It’s been a fantastic year for film,” said Robertson. “Just having passed the two-year mark of a global pandemic, great entertainment means more to all of us than ever before. This year’s AAFCA winners not only entertained us, but educated and inspired us and we’re looking forward to celebrating them at the AAFCA Awards.”

Established in 2003, the AAFCA is the premiere body of Black film critics in the world, actively reviewing film and television, with a particular emphasis on entertainment that includes the Black experience and storytellers from the African Diaspora. The organization’s primary mission is to cultivate understanding, appreciation and advancement of the contributions of African descended talent to cinematic and television culture – from the artistic and technical legends of the past to the still unimagined breakthroughs of future generations.  AAFCA members are a geographically diverse cross-section of journalists, covering all genres of the cinematic arts, while representing multiple mediums – including print, TV, radio broadcast and online. Collectively, they reach a worldwide audience in excess of 100 million. As a non-profit organization, AAFCA is committed to numerous educational and philanthropic efforts, particularly those that foster and celebrate diversity and inclusion.

Several special achievement awards will be announced in the coming weeks including the Cinema Vanguard Award, the ICON Award, AAFCA’s Stanley & Karen Kramer Award for Social Justice, the Building Change Award presented by Lowes and the Innovator Award presented by Nissan. 

Winners will be celebrated at the 13th Annual AAFCA Awards on March 2nd at the SLS Hotel in Los Angeles with a limited capacity audience and other health and safety protocols in place. The announcement was made today by AAFCA president and co-founder Gil Robertson. 

Here is the complete list of winners and the AAFCA Top 10 Films of the Year.

Top 10 Films

1. The Harder They Fall
2. King Richard
3. Respect
4. The Tragedy of Macbeth
5. Passing
6. Belfast
7. Who We Are
8. House of Gucci
9. The Power of the Dog
10. West Side Story

Best Picture: The Harder They Fall

Best Director: Jeymes Samuel (The Harder They Fall)

Best Screenplay: Don’t Look Up (Adam McKay)

Best Actor: Will Smith (King Richard)

Best Actress: Jennifer Hudson (Respect)

Best Supporting Actor: Corey Hawkins (The Tragedy of Macbeth)

Best Supporting Actress: Aunjanue Ellis (King Richard)

Breakout Actor: Saniyya Sidney (King Richard)

Best Ensemble: The Harder They Fall

Emerging Director: Reinaldo Marcus Green (King Richard)

Best Music: The Harder They Fall (Jeymes Samuel, Kid Cudi, Jay-Z)

Best Independent Feature: Who We Are

Best Documentary: Summer of Soul

Photos: David Lee/Netflix; Warner Bros.

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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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