Black Reel Award for Outstanding Film

Last updated
Black Reel Award for Outstanding Motion Picture
Country United States
Presented by The Black Reel Awards (BRAs)
First awarded Black Reel Awards of 2000
Most recent winner American Fiction (2024)
Website blackreelawards.com

The Black Reel Award for Outstanding Film is one of the Black Reel Awards presented annually. This award goes to the producers of the film. Outstanding Film is the final award of the night at each ceremony. There have been 120 films nominated for Outstanding Film and 24 winners.

Contents

History

Outstanding Film and Outstanding Director

The Black Reel Award for Outstanding Picture and Black Reel Award for Outstanding Director have been closely linked throughout their history. Of the 22 films that have won Outstanding Film, 10 have also been awarded for Outstanding Director. Only six films have been awarded Outstanding Film without receiving an Outstanding Director nomination: The Hurricane directed by Norman Jewison, Ray directed by Taylor Hackford (2005), Crash directed by Paul Haggis (2006), Dreamgirls directed by Bill Condon (2017), The Help directed by Tate Taylor (2012) and Dolemite Is My Name directed by Craig Brewer (2020). Note: These film directors were deemed ineligible for an Outstanding Director nomination due to not being of African-American of African descent.

Language and country of origin

Only one non-English language film has been nominated in the category: The Intouchables (French, 2013). Five films wholly financed outside of the United States has been nominated for Outstanding Film: Attack the Block (2011), Shame (2011), The Intouchables (2013), Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (2013) and Belle (2014).

Genres

The Princess and the Frog , Soul , and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse are the only animated films to be nominated for Outstanding Film. Black Panther remains as the only comic book film to win Outstanding Film; Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse are the only other comic book films to be nominated. Get Out became the first horror film to win Outstanding Film and one of three films along with From Hell and Us to be nominated in this category.

Lightning in a Bottle is the only documentary film to win. It won in the first and only winner in the Outstanding Comedy/Musical film at the 5th Annual Black Reel Awards. Standing in the Shadows of Motown , Tupac: Resurrection , Fade to Black and 13th were the other documentaries to be nominated in this category.

Dreamgirls is the only musical to win this category. To date, The Book of Eli and Attack the Block are the only two science fiction films to be nominated for Outstanding Film.

Winners and nominees

Winners are listed first and highlighted in bold.

2000s

YearFilmDistributorProducer(s)Ref
2000
The Hurricane Universal Studios Norman Jewison, John Ketchem and Armyan Bernstein [1]
The Best Man Universal Pictures Bill Carraro, Sam Kitt and Spike Lee
Life Universal Pictures Eddie Murphy and Brian Grazer
The Wood Paramount Pictures David Gale, Albert Berger and Ron Yerxa
2001
Love & Basketball New Line Cinema Spike Lee and Sam Kitt [2]
Bamboozled New Line Cinema John Kilik and Spike Lee
Girlfight Screen Gems Maggie Renzi, Martha Griffin and Sarah Green
Men of Honor 20th Century Fox Bill Badalato and Robert Teitel
Remember the Titans Walt Disney Pictures Chad Oman and Jerry Bruckheimer
2002
Training Day Warner Bros. Pictures Bruce Berman and Davis Guggenheim [3]
Ali Columbia Pictures Michael Mann, Jon Peters and James Lassiter
Baby Boy Columbia Pictures John Singleton
The Brothers Screen Gems Doug McHenry and Paddy Cullen
From Hell 20th Century Fox Don Murphy, Amy Robinson and Jane Hamsher
2003
Antwone Fisher Fox Searchlight Pictures Denzel Washington, Randa Haines and Todd Black [4]
25th Hour Touchstone Pictures John Kilik, Spike Lee and Julia Chasman
Barbershop Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer George Tillman Jr., Mark Brown and Robert Teitel
Drumline 20th Century Fox Timothy M. Bourne, Wendy Finerman and Jody Gerson
Standing in the Shadows of Motown Artisan Entertainment Paul Justman and Alan Slutsky
2004
Out of Time Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Neal H. Moritz, Damien Saccani and Jesse Beaton [5]
The Fighting Temptations Paramount Pictures Loretha C. Jones, Benny Medina and Jeff Pollack
The Italian Job Paramount Pictures Donald De Line
S.W.A.T. Columbia Pictures Neal H. Moritz, Chris Lee and Dan Halsted
Tupac: Resurrection Paramount Pictures Preston Holmes, Karoyln Ali and Lauren Lazin
2005 Drama
Ray Universal Pictures Howard Baldwin, Taylor Hackford and Bob Yari [6]
BAADASSSSS! Sony Pictures Classics Mario Van Peebles
I, Robot 20th Century Fox Topher Dow, Laurence Mark and Wyck Godfrey
Comedy / Musical
Lightning in a Bottle Sony Pictures Alex Gibney, Margaret Bodde and Jack Gulick
Barbershop 2: Back in Business Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer George Tillman Jr., Robert Teitel and Alex Gartner
Fade to Black Paramount Vantage Bob Ezrin, Rich Kleiman and Justin Wilkes
2006
Crash Lionsgate Paul Haggis, Cathy Schulman and Bob Yari [7]
Coach Carter Touchstone Pictures David Gale, Brian Robbins and Michael Tollin
Four Brothers Columbia Pictures Lorenzo di Bonaventura
Hitch Columbia Pictures James Lassiter, Will Smith and Teddy Zee
Hustle & Flow Paramount Classics John Singleton and Stephanie Allain
2007
Dreamgirls DreamWorks Laurence Mark [8]
Akeelah and the Bee Warner Bros. Sid Ganis, Laurence Fishburne and Michael Romersa
Inside Man Universal Pictures Brian Grazer and Jonathan Filley
The Pursuit of Happyness Columbia Pictures James Lassiter, Todd Black and Steve Tisch
Something New Focus Features Stephanie Allain
2008
Cadillac Records TriStar Pictures Andrew Lack and Sofia Sondervan [9]
Miracle at St. Anna Touchstone Pictures Spike Lee, Luigi Musini and Roberto Cicutto
The Secret Life of Bees Fox Searchlight Pictures James Lassiter, Will Smith and Lauren Shuler Donner
Seven Pounds Columbia Pictures James Lassiter, Will Smith and Steve Tisch
Traitor Overture Films Don Cheadle, David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman

2010s

YearFilmDistributorProducer(s)Ref
2010
Precious Lionsgate Lee Daniels, Gary Magness and Sarah Siegel-Magness [10]
American Violet Samuel Goldwyn Films Bill Haney
The Blind Side Warner Bros. Broderick Johnson, Andrew Kosove and Gil Netter
Invictus Warner Bros. Clint Eastwood, Mace Neufeld and Robert Lorenz
The Princess and the Frog Walt Disney Pictures Peter Del Vecho
2011
Night Catches Us Magnolia Pictures Jason Orans, Ron Simons and Sean Costello [11]
The Book of Eli Warner Bros. Pictures Denzel Washington, Joel Silver and Andrew Kosove
Brooklyn's Finest Overture Films John Thompson, John Langley and Elle Cohn
For Colored Girls Lionsgate Tyler Perry, Roger M. Bobb and Paul Hall
Just Wright Fox Searchlight Pictures Debra Martin Chase, Queen Latifah and Shakim Compere
2012
The Help DreamWorks Chris Columbus, Brunson Green and Michael Baranthan [12]
Attack the Block Screen Gems Nira Park and James Wilson
Jumping the Broom TriStar Pictures Elizabeth Hunter, Tracy Edmonds and T.D. Jakes
Pariah Focus Features Nekisha Cooper
Shame Fox Searchlight Pictures Emile Sherman and Iain Canning
2013
Beasts of the Southern Wild Fox Searchlight Pictures Josh Penn, Dan Javey and Michael Gottwald [13] [14]
Django Unchained The Weinstein Company Reginald Hudlin, Stacey Shear and Pilar Savone
Flight Paramount Pictures Robert Zemeckis, Steve Starkey and Laurie MacDonald
The Intouchables The Weinstein Company Nicolas Duval-Adassovsky, Yann Zenou and Laurent Zeitoun
Middle of Nowhere AAFRMPaul Garnes, Ava DuVernay and Howard Barish
2014
12 Years a Slave Fox Searchlight Pictures Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner [15] [16]
42 Warner Bros. Pictures Thomas Tull
The Butler The Weinstein Company Pamela Oas Williams, Laura Ziskin and Lee Daniels
Fruitvale Station The Weinstein Company Nina Yang Bongiovi and Forest Whitaker
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom 20th Century Fox David M. Thompson and Anant Singh
2015
Selma Paramount Pictures Christian Colson, Oprah Winfrey and Dede Gardner [17]
Belle Fox Searchlight Pictures Damian Jones
Beyond the Lights Relativity Media Stephanie Allain, Reggie Rock Bythewood and Ryan Kavanaugh
Dear White People Lionsgate Effie Brown, Ann Le and Julia Lebedev
Top Five Paramount Pictures Scott Rudin and Eli Bush
2016
Creed Warner Bros. Pictures Irwin Winkler, Robert Chartoff and Charles Winkler [18]
Beasts of No Nation Bleecker Street Amy Kaufman, Cary Joji Fukunaga and Daniela Taplin Lundberg
Chi-Raq Roadside Attractions Spike Lee
Concussion Columbia Pictures Ridley Scott, Giannina Facio and David Woltroff
Straight Outta Compton Universal Pictures Ice Cube, Tomica Woods-Wright and Matt Alvarez
2017
Moonlight A24 Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner and Adele Romanski [19]
13th Netflix Spencer Averick, Howard Barish and Ava DuVernay
Fences Paramount Pictures Todd Black, Scott Rudin and Denzel Washington
Loving Focus Features Nancy Buirski, Ged Doherty, Colin Firth, Sarah Green, Peter Saraf and Marc Turtletaub
Manchester by the Sea Roadside Attractions Lauren Beck, Matt Damon, Chris Moore, Kimberly Steward and Kevin J. Walsh
2018
Get Out Universal Pictures Sean McKittrick, Jason Blum, Edward H. Hamm Jr. and Jordan Peele [20] [21]
Detroit Annapurna Pictures Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Matthew Budman, Megan Ellison and Colin Wilson
Girls Trip Universal Pictures Malcolm D. Lee and Will Packer
Marshall Open Road Films Reginald Hudlin, Jonathan Sanger and Paula Wagner
Mudbound Netflix Carl Effenson, Sally Jo Effenson, Cassian Elwes, Charles King, Christopher Lemole, Kim Roth and Tim Zajaros
2019
Black Panther Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Kevin Feige [22] [23]
BlacKkKlansman Focus Features Jason Blum, Spike Lee, Raymond Mansfield, Sean McKittrick, Jordan Peele, and Shaun Redick
Green Book Universal Pictures Jim Burke, Brian Hayes Currie, Peter Farrelly, Nick Vallelonga, and Charles B. Wessler
If Beale Street Could Talk Annapurna Pictures Megan Ellison, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Adele Romanski, Sara Murphy, and Barry Jenkins
Widows 20th Century Fox Steve McQueen, Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, and Arnon Milchan

2020s

YearFilmDistributorProducer(s)Ref
2020
Dolemite Is My Name Netflix Eddie Murphy , John Davis and John Fox [24]
Just Mercy Warner Bros. Pictures Asher Goldstein and Gil Netter
Queen & Slim Universal Pictures Melina Matsoukas, Lena Waithe, Pamela Addy, Michelle Knudsen, Brad Weston and James Frey
Us Universal Pictures Jordan Peele, Sean McKittrick, Ian Cooper and Jason Blum
Waves A24 Trey Edward Schults, Kevin Turen and James Wilson
2021
Judas and the Black Messiah Warner Bros. Pictures Shaka King , Charles D. King and Shaka King [25]
Da 5 Bloods Netflix Spike Lee, Lloyd Levin, Jon Kilik and Beatriz Levin
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom Netflix Denzel Washington, Todd Black and Dany Wolf
One Night in Miami... Amazon Studios Keith Calder, Jess Wu Calder & Jody Klein
Soul Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Dana Murray
2022
King Richard Warner Bros. Will Smith , Tim White & Trevor White [26]
The Harder They Fall Netflix Lawrence Bender, Jay-Z, James Lassiter and Jeymes Samuel
Passing Netflix Nina Yang Bongiovi, Forest Whitaker, Rebecca Hall & Margot Hand
The Tragedy of Macbeth A24 Joel Coen, Frances McDormand, Robert Graf
West Side Story 20th Century Studios Steven Spielberg, Kristie Macosko Krieger, Kevin McCollum
2023
The Woman King Sony Pictures Maria Bello, Viola Davis, Cathy Schulman, and Julius Tennon [27]
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Kevin Feige and Nate Moore
Devotion Sony Pictures Molly Smith, Rachel Smith, Thad Luckinbill, and Trent Luckinbill
Nope Universal Pictures Jordan Peele and Ian Cooper
Till United Artists Releasing Keith Beauchamp, Barbara Broccoli, Whoopi Goldberg, Michael Reilly, and Thomas Levine
2024
American Fiction Amazon MGM Studios Ben LeClair, Nikos Karamigios, Cord Jefferson, and Jermaine Johnson [28]
The Color Purple Warner Bros. Pictures Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, Scott Sanders, and Quincy Jones
Origin Neon Paul Garnes and Ava DuVernay
Rustin Netflix Bruce Cohen, Tonia Davis, and George C. Wolfe
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse Sony Pictures Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Amy Pascal, and Avi Arad

Multiple nominations and wins

Multiple wins

3 wins
2 wins

Multiple nominations

Production companies with multiple nominations and wins

Production CompanyNominationsWins
Universal Pictures 113
Paramount Pictures 111
Warner Bros. Pictures 103
Netflix 91
Searchlight Pictures 63
Walt Disney Pictures 62
Columbia Pictures 60
Lionsgate 52
Sony Pictures Releasing 52
20th Century Fox / 20th Century Studios 50
The Weinstein Company 50
Focus Features 40
A24 31
MGM 31
New Line Cinema 31
Roadside Attractions 30
Screen Gems 30
New Line Cinema 21
Overture Films 20
Annapurna Pictures 20
TriStar Pictures 20
Amazon MGM Studios 20

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References

  1. ↑ 2000 Black Reel Awards
  2. ↑ 2001 Black Reel Awards
  3. ↑ 2002 Black Reel Awards
  4. ↑ 2003 Black Reel Awards
  5. ↑ 2004 Black Reel Awards
  6. ↑ 2005 Black Reel Awards
  7. ↑ 2006 Black Reel Awards
  8. ↑ 2007 Black Reel Awards
  9. ↑ 2008 Black Reel Awards
  10. ↑ 2010 Black Reel Awards
  11. ↑ 2011 Black Reel Awards
  12. ↑ 2012 Black Reel Awards
  13. ↑ Black Reels Embraces Diverse Group of Films Black Reel Awards. 19 December 2012.
  14. ↑ Critics Wild About “Beasts!” Black Reel Awards. 8 February 2013.
  15. ↑ The 14th Annual Black Reel Awards Nominations Archived 2015-05-31 at the Wayback Machine Black Reel Awards. 18 December 2013.
  16. ↑ “12 Years a Slave” Breaks Free Archived 2018-08-15 at the Wayback Machine Black Reel Awards. 14 February 2014.
  17. ↑ 2015 Black Reel Awards
  18. ↑ 2016 Black Reel Awards
  19. ↑ 2017 Black Reel Awards
  20. ↑ Get Out Dominates the Black Reel Awards Archived 2017-12-19 at the Wayback Machine Black Reel Awards. 13 December 2017.
  21. ↑ Get Out “Sinks” the Competition at The Black Reel Awards Archived 2018-02-28 at the Wayback Machine Black Reel Awards. 23 February 2018.
  22. ↑ "Black Panther "ROARS!"". Black Reel Awards . December 13, 2018. Archived from the original on April 26, 2019. Retrieved December 13, 2018.
  23. ↑ "19th Annual Black Reel Awards Winners". Black Reel Awards . February 9, 2018. Retrieved February 9, 2019.
  24. ↑ 2020 Black Reel Awards
  25. ↑ 2021 Black Reel Awards
  26. ↑ 2022 Black Reel Awards
  27. ↑ Complex, Valerie (February 6, 2023). "'The Woman King' Wins Big at the 23rd Annual Black Reel Awards". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved February 6, 2023.
  28. ↑ Complex, Valerie (January 16, 2024). "Black Reel Awards Reveals Winners of Film and Television Categories; 'American Fiction' and 'The Color Purple' Take Home Top Honors". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved January 17, 2024.
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