African American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) Awards: ‘Origin,’ ‘American Fiction,’ ‘The Color Purple’ Win Big

The African American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) announced today the winners of the 15th annual AAFCA Awards honoring outstanding achievement in film and the organization’s selections for their top ten films of the year, including top wins for Origin, American Fiction and The Color Purple.

Winners will be celebrated at the 15th Annual AAFCA Awards on February 21 at the Beverly Wilshire, a Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills.  The announcement was made by AAFCA president and co-founder Gil Robertson.  “It’s become a tradition to announce our winners on MLK Day,” stated Robertson. “And what a great year for cinema showcasing the vibrant tapestry of Black storytelling, where diversity is not a trend, but an imperative. This year’s winners have inspired, challenged, and moved us and we are delighted to celebrate them and their cultural impact.”
 
AAFCA’s Top 10 Films list and the winners of the 15th Annual AAFCA Awards are:
 
AAFCA’S TOP 10 FILMS OF THE YEAR

1. American Fiction
2. Origin
3. The Color Purple
4. Oppenheimer
5. Past Lives
6. Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
7. Poor Things
8. Anatomy of a Fall
9. Killers of the Flower Moon
10. Barbie

WINNERS | 15TH ANNUAL AAFCA AWARDS
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

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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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