Black Reel Awards: ‘The Harder They Fall’ sets record with 20 nominations, women directors make history

Erik Anderson December 16, 2021

The nominations for the 22nd Annual Black Reel Awards were announced today and Jeymes Samuel’s all-Black western The Harder They Fall broke all records with a huge 20 nominations, blasting past the previous record held by Black Panther, which received 17 nominations in 2018, and is the first western nominated for Outstanding Picture and Outstanding Screenplay from the group. Samuel ties with Radha Blank for the most individual nominations in a single year with 7.

The Black Reel Awards annually recognize the excellence of African Americans, as well as the cinematic achievements of the African diaspora, in the global film industry.

Passing, Rebecca Hall’s adaptation of the Nella Larsen novel, earned 13 nominations, the second most of any film this year within categories including Outstanding Film, Director (Hall), Actress (Tessa Thompson) and Supporting Actress (Ruth Negga). Zola receives a total of nine nominations, the most for any independent film.

For the first time in Black Reel history, a husband and wife are facing off as “Guns Go Bang” and “The Harder They Fall” by Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter duel for Outstanding Original Song against Beyonce Knowles-Carter’s “Be Alive” from King Richard.

Also for the first time ever, three women are nominated for Outstanding Director: Halle Berry for Bruised (also nominated for Outstanding Actress), Nia DaCosta for Candyman and Rebecca Hall for Passing (also nominated for her screenplay).

At the age of 90, after receiving a nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in West Side Story, Rita Moreno becomes the most senior nominee in any category for a Black Reel Award.

“What a truly transformative year for Black Cinema,” says Black Reel Awards founder Tim Gordon. “It is a pleasure to witness the continuing evolution and growth of Black Film over our two decades in celebration of these accomplishments. As our growth continues, The Black Reels have exciting news coming soon and we can’t wait to see how it will add to the texture of this rich cinematic fabric.”

Winners will be announced on February 27, 2022. Here is the complete list of nominees.

Outstanding Motion Picture

The Harder They Fall

Lawrence Bender, Shawn Carter, James Lassiter & Jeymes Samuel, producers

King Richard

Will Smith, Tim White & Trevor White, producers

Passing
Nina Yang Bongiovi, Forest Whitaker, Rebecca Hall & Margot Hand, producers

The Tragedy of Macbeth

Joel Coen, Robert Graf & Frances McDormand, producers

West Side Story
Steven Spielberg, Kristie Macosko Krieger & Kevin McCollum, producers

Outstanding Director

Halle Berry | Bruised

Nia DaCosta | Candyman

Reinaldo Marcus Green | King Richard

Rebecca Hall | Passing

Jeymes Samuel | The Harder They Fall

Outstanding Actor

Mahershala Ali | Swan Song

Winston Duke | Nine Days

Jonathan Majors | The Harder They Fall

Will Smith | King Richard

Denzel Washington | The Tragedy of Macbeth

Outstanding Actress

Zazie Beetz | The Harder They Fall

Halle Berry | Bruised

Jennifer Hudson | Respect

Taylour Paige | Zola

Tessa Thompson | Passing

Outstanding Supporting Actor

Colman Domingo | Zola

Idris Elba | The Harder They Fall

Andre Holland | Passing

LaKeith Stanfield | The Harder They Fall

Jeffrey Wright | The French Dispatch

Outstanding Supporting Actress

Ariana DeBose | West Side Story

Aunjanue Ellis | King Richard

Regina King | The Harder They Fall

Rita Moreno | West Side Story

Ruth Negga | Passing

Outstanding Screenplay

Candyman

Nia DaCosta, Jordan Peele & Win Rosenfeld

The Harder They Fall

Jeymes Samuel & Boaz Yakin

In the Heights

Quiara Alegria Hudes

Passing

Rebecca Hall

Zola

Janicza Bravo & Jeremy O. Harris

Outstanding Documentary

Ailey

Jamila Wignot, director

Citizen Ashe

Rex Miller & Sam Pollard, directors

My Name is Pauli Murray

Julie Cohen & Betsy West, directors

Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It

Mariem Pérez Riera, director

Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)

Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson, director

Outstanding Foreign-Language Film

African America (South Africa)

Muzi Mthembu, director

Bitter Sugar (Tunisia)

Malik Isasis, director

Faya Dayi (Ethiopia)

Jessica Beshir, director

Outstanding Ensemble

The Harder They Fall

Victoria Thomas, casting director

In the Heights

Tiffany Little Canfield & Bernard Telsey, casting directors

King Richard

Rich Delia & Avy Kaufman, casting directors

Passing

Kim Ostroy & Laura Rosenthal, casting directors

Zola

Kim Coleman, casting director

Outstanding Voice Performance

Eric Andre | The Mitchells vs. The Machines
Marsai Martin | Spirit Untamed

Maya Rudolph | Luca

Maya Rudolph | The Mitchells vs. The Machines

Zoe Saldana | Vivo

Outstanding Score

Candyman

Robert Aiki Aubrey, composer

The Harder They Fall

Jeymes Samuel, composer

In the Heights

Alex Lacamoire, Lin-Manuel Miranda & Bill Sherman, composers

Passing

Devonte Hynes, composer

Respect

Kris Bowers, composer

Outstanding Original Song

“Automatic Woman” (Bruised)

H.E.R., performer; Van Hunt, H.E.R. & Brittany Hazzard, writers

“Be Alive” (King Richard)

Beyonce, performer; Beyoncé Knowles-Carter & DIXSON, writers

“Guns Go Bang” (The Harder They Fall)

Jay-Z & Kid Cudi, performers; Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter, Kid Cudi & Jeymes Samuel, writers

“The Harder They Fall” (The Harder They Fall)

Koffee, performer; Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter & Jeymes Samuel, writers

“Here I Am (Singing My Way Home)” (Respect)

Jennifer Hudson, performer; Carole King, Jennifer Hudson & Jamie Hartman, writers

Outstanding Independent Film

Concrete Cowboy

Ricky Staub, director

Nine Days

Edson Oda, director

Test Pattern

Shatara Michelle Ford, director

The Water Man

David Oyelowo, director

Zola

Janicza Bravo, director

Outstanding Short Film

54 Years Late

Michele Wise Wright, director

Coffee

Jordan Pitt, director

The Door of Return

Kokutekeleza Musebeni & Anna Zhukovets, directors

Junior

Jehnovah Carlisle, director

The Snakes

Michelle Beck, director

Outstanding Independent Documentary

100 Years from Mississippi

Tarabu Betserai Kirkland, director

Big Chief, Black Hawk

Jonathan Isaac Jackson, director

I Still Breathe

Alfred George Bailey, director

Little Satchmo

John Alexander, director

Unzipped: An Autopsy of American Inequality

Colin K. Gray, director

Outstanding Emerging Director

Halle Berry | Bruised

Janicza Bravo | Zola

Rebecca Hall | Passing

Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson | Summer of Soul (…Or, When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)

Jeymes Samuel | The Harder They Fall

Outstanding Breakthrough Performance, Male

Deon Cole | The Harder They Fall

Edi Gathegi | The Harder They Fall

Joshua Henry | tick, tick…Boom!

Caleb McLaughlin | Concrete Cowboy

Anthony Ramos | In the Heights

Outstanding Breakthrough Performance, Female

Danielle Deadwyler | The Harder They Fall

Ariana DeBose | West Side Story

Taylour Paige | Zola

Saniyya Sidney | King Richard

Demi Singleton | King Richard

Outstanding First Screenplay

In The Heights

Quiara Alegria Hudes

Passing

Rebecca Hall

Zola

Janicza Bravo & Jeremy O. Harris

Cinematography

The Harder They Fall

Mihai Malaimare Jr., cinematographer

In the Heights

Myron Kerstein, cinematographer

Passing

Edu Grau, cinematographer

The Tragedy of Macbeth

Bruno Delbonnel, cinematographer

West Side Story

Janusz Kaminski, cinematographer

Outstanding Costume Design

Coming 2 America

Ruth E. Carter, costume designer

The Harder They Fall

Antoinette Messam, costume designer

Passing

Marci Rodgers, costume designer

The Tragedy of Macbeth

Mary Zophres, costume designer

West Side Story

Paul Tazewell, costume designer

Outstanding Editing

Bruised

Jacob Craycroft & Terilyn A. Shropshire, editors

The Harder They Fall

Tom Eagles, editor

King Richard

Pamela Martin, editor

Respect

Avril Beukes, editor

Zola

Joi McMillion, editor

Outstanding Production Design

The Harder They Fall

Martin Whist, production designer

In the Heights

Nelson Coates, production designer

Passing

Nora Mendis, production designer

The Tragedy of Macbeth

Stefan Dechant, production designer

West Side Story

Adam Stockhausen, production designer

Photo: David Lee/Netflix

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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.