AAFCA honors ‘Black Panther,’ ‘If Beale Street Could Talk’ and more!

Posted by | Ray Cornelius

CONGRATS to Ryan Coogler‘s Black Panther! It was named the year’s Best Film today by the African American Film Critics Association (AAFCA), the world’s largest group of black film critics comprised of leading film critics from across the country.  The groundbreaking blockbuster also won Best Director for Coogler and Best Song “All the Stars” performed by Kendrick Lamar and SZA with music and lyrics by Kendrick Lamar, Anthony Tiffith, Mark Spears, Solana Rowe and Al Shuckburgh) making it AAFCA’s top award-winner of 2018.

AAFCA also announced winners in several other categories, along with its annual top ten list, with all categories voted on by AAFCA members. See the winners below:

Best Film: “Black Panther”

Best Director: Ryan Coogler (“Black Panther”) 

Best Screenplay:  Charlie Wachtel & David Rabinowitz and Kevin Willmott & Spike Lee (“BlacKkKlansman”)

Best Actor: John David Washington (“BlacKkKlansman”)

Best Actress: Regina Hall (“Support the Girls)” 

Best Supporting Actor: Russell Hornsby (“The Hate U Give”) 

Best Supporting Actress: Regina King (“If Beale Street Could Talk”)

Best Breakout Performance: Amandla Stenberg (“The Hate U Give”)

Best Animated Film: “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”

Best Independent Film: “If Beale Street Could Talk”

Best Foreign Film: “Roma”

Best Documentary: “Quincy”

Best Song: “All The Stars” (“Black Panther”)

Best New Media: “Red Table Talk”

AAFCA’s Top Ten List:

1. Black Panther (Walt Disney Studios)
2. If Beale Street Could Talk (Annapurna Pictures)
3. The Hate U Give (20^th Century Fox)
4. A Star is Born (Warner Bros. Studios)
5. Quincy (Netflix)
6. Roma (Netflix)
7. Blindspotting (Lionsgate)
8. The Favourite (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
9. Sorry to Bother You (Annapurna Pictures)
10. Widows (20^th Century Fox)

“It’s been a breakthrough year in cinema on a number of fronts,” said Gil Robertson, co-president of AAFCA. “Most significantly, the tremendous success of Black Panther and Crazy Rich Asians clearly demonstrates that films populated by people of color can perform well overseas. AAFCA’s Top 10 marks the first time so many films by or about black identity have made our list, presenting storylines that reflect the diversity that lives within the black community.  It was also good to see Roma and The Favourite make our TOP 10 because these films, as well, shine light on themes and storylines representing popular culture.”

Several special achievement awards will be announced in the coming weeks including the Cinema Vanguard Award, the ICON Award, AAFCA’s Stanley Kramer Award and the organization’s inaugural Pioneer Award.

The AAFCA Awards will take place on February 6, 2019 at the Taglyan Complex. 

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