African American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) Top 10 Films of 2022: ‘The Woman King’ named Best Picture

The African American Film Critics Association’s annual list of the top 10 films of the year was revealed this morning and The Woman King was named Best Picture by the org.  The film, directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, boasts an ensemble cast led by Academy Award winner Viola Davis and includes Lashana Lynch, Sheila Atim, and Thuso Mbedu as the Agojie, an all-female army of fierce warriors. John Boyega also stars as King Ghezo.

“The best films of this year prove that diverse stories – the true and the fantastical – are not only important to the culture but are equally important to the movie-making business,” said AAFCA president and co-founder Gil Robertson.  “Black films which make an impact on our minds and hearts are also making a sizable impact at the box office. Our top film, The Woman King bridges the gap between telling important, heartfelt stories, and providing an entertaining experience for movie-going audiences. These true tales of black empowerment and accomplishment, such as Emancipation, Devotion and Sidney, as well as fantastical tales such as Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and Wendell & Wild invite us to experience under-appreciated pieces of history along with our own imaginings.”

Last year’s AAFCA Best Picture winner was Jeymes Samuel’s The Harder They Fall, which also won Best Director and Best Music.

As previously announced, AAFCA will reveal winners of the 14th Annual AAFCA Awards honoring outstanding achievement in film in 15 competitive categories on January 16, 2023. An in-person celebration in Los Angeles will follow on March 1.

The full list of AAFCA’S Top 10 Films of 2022:

1. The Woman King

2. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever

3. Till

4. Sidney

5. Emancipation

5. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery

6. The Inspection

7. Causeway

8. Everything Everywhere All at Once

9. Wendell & Wild

10. Devotion

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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), Hollywood Critics Association (HCA) 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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