Black Reel Awards of 2026

26th Black Reel Awards
Date	February 16, 2026
Most nominations	Sinners (21)
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The 26th Annual Black Reel Awards ceremony, presented by the Foundation for the Augmentation of African-Americans in Film (FAAAF) and honoring the best films of 2025, will take place during a virtual ceremony on February 16, 2026. ^[1]

The film nominations were announced on December 18, 2025. ^{[2] [3]} Ryan Coogler's supernatural horror film Sinners led with a record-breaking twenty-one nominations, followed by Highest 2 Lowest with eleven, and 40 Acres and On Becoming a Guinea Fowl , both with nine each. The category for Outstanding Independent Documentary was introduced.

Film nominees

Outstanding Film	Outstanding Director
Hedda – Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Gabrielle Nadig, Nia DaCosta, and Tessa Thompson, producers Highest 2 Lowest – Todd Black and Jason Michael Berman, producers One of Them Days – Issa Rae, Deniese Davis, Sara Rastogi, James Lopez, and Poppy Hank, producers Sinners – Zinzi Coogler, Sev Ohanian, and Ryan Coogler, producers Wicked: For Good – Marc Platt and David Stone, producers	Ryan Coogler – Sinners Nia DaCosta – Hedda Spike Lee – Highest 2 Lowest Rungano Nyoni – On Becoming a Guinea Fowl R.T. Thorne – 40 Acres
Outstanding Lead Performance	Outstanding Supporting Performance
Danielle Deadwyler – 40 Acres as Hailey Freeman Cynthia Erivo – Wicked: For Good as Elphaba Thropp André Holland – Love, Brooklyn as Roger Chase Infiniti – One Battle After Another as Willa Ferguson / Charlene Calhoun Dwayne Johnson – The Smashing Machine as Mark Kerr Michael B. Jordan – Sinners as Elijah "Smoke" Moore and Elias "Stack" Moore Jonathan Majors – Magazine Dreams as Killian Maddox Keke Palmer – One of Them Days as Dreux Tessa Thompson – Hedda as Hedda Gabler Denzel Washington – Highest 2 Lowest as David King	Miles Caton – Sinners as Samuel "Sammie" Moore Regina Hall – One Battle After Another as Deandra / "Lady Champagne" Damson Idris – F1 as Joshua Pearce David Jonsson – The Long Walk as Peter "Pete" McVries Delroy Lindo – Sinners as Delta Slim Wunmi Mosaku – Sinners as Annie Da'Vine Joy Randolph – Eternity as Anna A$AP Rocky – Highest 2 Lowest as Archie/Yung Felon Teyana Taylor – One Battle After Another as Perfidia Beverly Hills Jeffrey Wright – Highest 2 Lowest as Paul Christopher
Outstanding Breakthrough Performance	Outstanding Ensemble
Miles Caton – Sinners as Samuel "Sammie" Moore Susan Chardy – On Becoming a Guinea Fowl as Shula Naya Desir-Johnson – Sarah's Oil as Sarah Rector Damson Idris – F1 as Joshua Pearce Chase Infiniti – One Battle After Another as Willa Ferguson / Charlene Calhoun Jayme Lawson – Sinners as Pearline A$AP Rocky – Highest 2 Lowest as Archie/Yung Felon Abou Sangaré – Souleymane's Story as Souleymane SZA – One of Them Days as Alyssa Tyriq Withers – Him as Cameron "Cam" Cade	40 Acres – Stephanie Gorin Highest 2 Lowest – Kim Coleman On Becoming a Guinea Fowl – Isabella Odoffin One of Them Days – Nicole Abellera and Jeanne McCarthy Sinners – Francine Maisler
Outstanding Short Film	Outstanding Documentary Feature
The Devil is Busy – Geeta Gandbhir and Christalyn Hampton, directors Jules – Tiffany Abney, director Walk in the Light – Princella Smith, director	Being Eddie – Angus Wall, director In Whose Name? – Nico Ballesteros, director Orwell: 2+2=5 – Raoul Peck, director Songs From the Hole – Contessa Gayles, director The Perfect Neighbor – Geeta Gandbhir, director
Outstanding International Film	Outstanding Independent Film
My Father's Shadow (United Kingdom) – Akinola Davies Jr. Night Call (Belgium) – Michiel Blanchart On Becoming a Guinea Fowl (Zambia, United Kingdom, Ireland) – Rungano Nyoni Souleymane's Story (France) – Boris Lojkine We Were Here – The Untold History of Black Africans in Renaissance Europe (Germany) – Fred Kudjo Kuwornu	40 Acres – R.T. Thorne, director Love, Brooklyn – Rachael Holder, director Magazine Dreams – Elijah Bynum, director My Father's Shadow – Akinola Davies Jr., director On Becoming a Guinea Fowl – Rungano Nyoni, director
Outstanding Screenplay	Outstanding First Screenplay
Sinners – Ryan Coogler Hedda – Nia DaCosta On Becoming a Guinea Fowl – Rungano Nyoni One of Them Days – Syreeta Singleton 40 Acres – R.T. Thorne	The Knife – Nnamdi Asomugha My Father's Shadow – Akinola Davies Jr. and Wale Davies On Becoming a Guinea Fowl – Rungano Nyoni One of Them Days – Syreeta Singleton 40 Acres – R.T. Thorne
Outstanding Emerging Director	Outstanding Voice Performance
Akinola Davies Jr. – My Father's Shadow Rachael Holder – Love, Brooklyn Kahlil Joseph – BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions Rungano Nyoni – On Becoming a Guinea Fowl R.T. Thorne – 40 Acres	Danielle Brooks – The Bad Guys 2 as Kitty Kat Quinta Brunson – Zootopia 2 as Dr. Fuzzby Idris Elba – Zootopia 2 as Chief Bogo Anthony Ramos – The Bad Guys 2 as Mr. Piranha Zoe Saldana – Avatar: Fire and Ash as Neytiri
Outstanding Score	Outstanding Soundtrack
Freaky Tales – Raphael Saadiq Hedda – Hildur Guðnadóttir Highest 2 Lowest – Howard Drossin Sinners – Ludwig Göransson The Eyes of Ghana – Kris Bowers	Freaky Tales Highest 2 Lowest One of Them Days Sinners Wicked: For Good
Outstanding Original Song	Outstanding Cinematography
"Highest 2 Lowest" from Highest 2 Lowest – Aiyana-Lee Anderson, performer; Aiyana-Lee Anderson and Nicole Daciana Anderson, writers "I Lied to You" from Sinners – Miles Caton, performer; Raphael Saadiq and Ludwig Göransson, writers "Last Time (I Seen the Sun)" from Sinners – Miles Caton and Alice Smith, performers; Miles Caton, Alice Smith and Ludwig Göransson, writers "Pale, Pale Moon" from Sinners – Brittany Howard, performer; Brittany Howard and Ludwig Göransson, writers "Sinners" from Sinners – Rod Wave, performer; Darius Povillunas, Kyris D'Asia, Rod Wave and Tarkan Kozluklu, writers	Sinners – Autumn Durald Arkapaw My Father's Shadow – Jermaine Canute Bradley Edwards Him – Kira Kelly After the Hunt – Malik Hassan Sayeed Seeds – Brittany Shyne
Outstanding Editing	Outstanding Costume Design
The Smashing Machine – Ronald Bronstein and Benny Safdie BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions – Kahlil Joseph, Luke Lynch and Paul Rogers Him – Taylor Joy Mason Sinners – Michael P. Shawver Seeds – Malika Zouhali-Worrall	40 Acres – Charlene Akuamoah On Becoming a Guinea Fowl – Estelle Don Banda Sinners – Ruth E. Carter Highest 2 Lowest – Francine Jamison-Tanchuck Wicked: For Good – Paul Tazewell
Outstanding Production Design	Outstanding Hairstyling & Makeup
Captain America: Brave New World – Ramsey Avery, production designer; Rosemary Brandenburg, set decorator Sinners – Hannah Beachler, production designer; Monique Champagne, set decorator Hedda – Cara Brower, production designer; Stella Fox, set decorator The Smashing Machine – James Chinlund, production designer; Marcia Calosio, Mike Keel and Frank Okay, set decorators Wicked: For Good – Nathan Crowley, production designer; Lee Sanders, set decorator	My Dead Friend Zoe – Amber Aprin and Mele Egbe Sinners – Ken Diaz, Mike Fontaine, Sian Richards, and Shunika Terry 40 Acres – Antonio Hines and Chancelle Mulela The Smashing Machine – Kazu Hiro, Felix Fox and Mia Neal One of Them Days – Vonda K. Morris and Nikki Wright
Outstanding Independent Documentary
BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions – Kahlil Joseph, director The Eyes of Ghana – Ben Proudfoot, director Fatherless No More – Kayla Johnson Seeds – Brittany Shyne, director We Were Here – The Untold History of Black Africans in Renaissance Europe – Fred Kudjo Kuwornu

Films with multiple nominations and awards

The following films received multiple nominations:

Nominations	Film
21	Sinners
11	Highest 2 Lowest
9	40 Acres
	On Becoming a Guinea Fowl
8	One of Them Days
6	Hedda
5	My Father's Shadow
	Wicked: For Good
4	One Battle After Another
	The Smashing Machine
3	BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions
	Him
	Love, Brooklyn
	Seeds
2	Magazine Dreams
	F1
	Souleymane's Story
	The Bad Guys 2
	Zootopia 2
	The Eyes of Ghana
	We Were Here – The Untold History of Black Africans in Renaissance Europe

References

1. "Ryan Coogler's Sinners Earns Record 21 Nominations at 26th Annual Black Reel Awards". Blex Media. December 18, 2025. Retrieved December 18, 2025.
2. Jackson, Angelique (December 18, 2025). "'Sinners' Leads Black Reel Awards Nominees". Variety . Retrieved December 18, 2025.
3. Pedersen, Erik (December 18, 2025). "'Sinners' Dominates With Record 21 Black Reel Awards Nominations". Deadline . Retrieved December 18, 2025.

External links

• Official website