Black Reel Awards (BRA) Winners: ‘American Fiction,’ ‘The Color Purple’ Win Big

The Black Reel Awards were announced and American Fiction and The Color Purple were the dominating winners with American Fiction taking Film, Director, Lead Performance for Jeffrey Wright, Screenplay, First Screenplay and Emerging Director.

The Color Purple made a dramatic sweep of the technical categories including Production Design, Costume Design, Score, Hair and Makeup, Song and Soundtrack as well as Ensemble, Breakthrough Performance for Fantasia Barrino and a Supporting Performance win for Danielle Brooks.

Here is the complete list of winners.

Outstanding Film: American Fiction

Outstanding Director: Cord Jefferson, American Fiction

Outstanding Lead Performance: Jeffrey Wright, American Fiction
Outstanding Supporting Performance: Danielle Brooks, The Color Purple

Outstanding Screenplay: Cord Jefferson, American Fiction

Outstanding Documentary: Little Richard: I Am Everything
Outstanding International Film: Rye Lane
Outstanding Independent Film: A Thousand and One
Outstanding Short Film: Black Girls Play: The Story of Hand Games

Outstanding Ensemble: The Color Purple

Outstanding Voice Performance: Shameik Moore, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

Outstanding Emerging Director: Cord Jefferson, American Fiction
Outstanding Breakthrough Performance: Fantasia Barrino, The Color Purple
Outstanding First Screenplay: Cord Jefferson, American Fiction

Outstanding Cinematography: Jomo Fray, All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt
Outstanding Editing: Michael Andrews, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
Outstanding Production Design: Paul D. Austerberry, The Color Purple
Outstanding Costume Design: Francine Jamison-Tanchuck, The Color Purple
Outstanding Hairstyling & Makeup: Lawrence Davis and Carol Rasheed, The Color Purple
Outstanding Score: Kris Bowers, The Color Purple
Outstanding Original Song: “Keep It Movin’” from The Color Purple
Outstanding Soundtrack: The Color Purple

Special awards

Diahann Carroll Icon Award: Shonda Rhimes
Oscar Micheaux Memorial Award: Ruth E. Carter
Ruby Dee Humanitarian Award: Sheryl Lee Ralph
Sidney Poitier Trailblazer Award: Samuel L. Jackson
Chadwick Boseman Vanguard Award: Colman Domingo

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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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