Black Reel Awards Nominations: ‘The Color Purple’ And ‘Rustin’ Dominate

The nominations for the 24th Annual Black Reel Awards are in. After close inspection, the black and gold Bolt award might seem to have a touch of purple on it as the classic Alice Walker novel, The Color Purple dominated the awards this year.

The film adaptation of the acclaimed musical, The Color Purple nearly double the number of the nearest competitor, Rustin, and set the mark for the most nominations for a musical. Blitz Bazawule’s stylish feature gathered him nominations for Outstanding Film, Outstanding Director and Outstanding Emerging Director. The cast received one Outstanding Lead Performance nomination for Fantasia Barrino, three Outstanding Supporting Performance nominations and three Outstanding Breakthrough Performance nominations. The musical also swept the musical and technical categories, receiving nominations in every one, except Outstanding Cinematography.  Fantasia Barrino became the second American Idol contestant to receive a nomination for acting (Jennifer Hudson).

Colman Domingo received his second nomination for his lead performance in Netflix’s civil rights story, Rustin, which received ten Black Reel Award nominations. Domingo is the thirteenth person to be nominated in both lead and supporting categories in the same year. Jamie Foxx also achieved the feat this year (The Burial, They Cloned Tyrone) and became the first person to achieve it twice.

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Cord Jefferson grabbed five nominations tying for the largest number of nominations by any one person with fellow writer/director A.V. Rockwell.  Rockwell and Jefferson mirrored each other in nominations being both writer and director of their respective films. Both were nominated for Outstanding First Screenplay, Outstanding Screenplay, Outstanding Emerging Director and Outstanding Director.  Rockwell’s film, A Thousand and One was nominated for Best Independent film while Jefferson’s film is in the Outstanding Film race.

Joining The Color Purple and Rustin are Ava DuVernay’s powerhouse film, Origin, first-time director Cord Jefferson’s American Fiction and the visually stunning, animated feature Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse which is the third animated feature to be entered into the Outstanding Film category. Spider-Verse set itself apart from the others by being the first animated film to also receive nominations for Outstanding Editing and Outstanding Production Design.

Quincy Jones became the oldest person to receive a nomination as a producer of a film, and  Jamison-Tanchuck is the first costume designer to receive nominations for two movies in the same year for The Color Purple and They Cloned Tyrone.

Beyoncé grabbed her seventh nomination for Outstanding Original Song for “My House” from her nominated documentary Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé. Beyoncé’s film became the first documentary to be nominated for Outstanding Production and Outstanding Costume Design and Beyoncé became the first person to be nominated in documentary, musical and professional categories in the same year.

Follow the 24th Annual Black Reel Awards (Bolts) on Twitter and Instagram @BlackReelAwards and Facebook at TheBlackReelAwards.

OUTSTANDING FILM

American Fiction (Amazon MGM Studios)  | Ben LeClair, Nikos Karamigios, Cord Jefferson & Jermaine Johnson, producers

The Color Purple (Warner Bros.)  | Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg, Scott Sanders & Quincy Jones, producers

Origin (Neon)  | Ava DuVernay & Paul Garnes, producers

Rustin (Netflix) | Bruce Cohen, Tonia Davis & George C. Wolfe, producers

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Sony Pictures Releasing)  | Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Amy Pascal & Avi Arad, producers

OUTSTANDING LEAD PERFORMANCE

Fantasia Barrino | The Color Purple (Warner Bros.)

John Boyega | They Cloned Tyrone (Netflix)

Colman Domingo | Rustin (Netflix)

Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor | Origin (Neon)

Jamie Foxx | The Burial (Amazon Prime Video)

Kelvin Harrison Jr. | Chevalier (Searchlight Pictures)

Michael B. Jordan | Creed III (MGM)

Teyana Taylor  | A Thousand and One (Focus Features)

Sophie Wilde | Talk to Me (Maslow Entertainment / Umbrella Entertainment / Ahi Films)

Jeffrey Wright | American Fiction (Amazon MGM Studios)

OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR

Blitz Bazawule | The Color Purple (Warner Bros.)

Ava DuVernay | Origin (Neon)

Cord Jefferson | American Fiction (Amazon MGM Studios)

Michael B. Jordan | Creed III (MGM)

A.V. Rockwell  | A Thousand and One (Focus Features)

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE

Erika Alexander | American Fiction (Amazon MGM Studios)

Danielle Brooks | The Color Purple (Warner Bros.)

Sterling K. Brown | American Fiction (Amazon MGM Studios)

Viola Davis | Air (Amazon Studios)

Colman Domingo | The Color Purple (Warner Bros.)

Jamie Foxx | They Cloned Tyrone (Netflix)

Taraji P. Henson | The Color Purple (Warner Bros.)

Jonathan Majors | Creed III (MGM)

Da’Vine Joy Randolph | The Holdovers (Focus Features)

Jurnee Smollett | The Burial (Amazon Prime Video)

OUTSTANDING SCREENPLAY

A Thousand and One (Focus Features) | A.V. Rockwell

American Fiction (Amazon MGM Studios) | Cord Jefferson

Origin (Neon) | Ava DuVernay

Rustin (Netflix) | Julian Breece & Dustin Lance Black

They Cloned Tyrone (Netflix) | Tony Rettenmaier & Juel Taylor

OUTSTANDING DOCUMENTARY
(awarded to the director)

American Symphony (Netflix) | Matthew Heineman, director

Kokomo City (Magnolia Pictures)  | D. Smith, director

Little Richard: I Am Everything  (Magnolia Pictures) | Lisa Cortés, director

Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé (AMC) | Beyoncé, director

Stamped From the Beginning (Netflix) | Roger Ross Williams, director

OUTSTANDING INTERNATIONAL FILM
(awarded to the director)

Brother (Canada) | Clement Virgo, director

Rye Lane (UK) | Raine Allen-Miller, director

Our Father, the Devil (Cameroon) | Ellie Foumbi, director

OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE  
(awarded to the casting director)

American Fiction (Amazon MGM Studios) | Jennifer Euston, casting director

The Blackening (Lionsgate) | Leah Daniels Butler, casting director

The Color Purple (Warner Bros.) | Tiffany Little Canfield, Destiny Lilly & Bernard Telsey, casting directors

Rustin (Netflix) | Cherelle Cargill & Avy Kaufman, casting directors

They Cloned Tyrone (Netflix) | Kim Coleman, casting director

OUTSTANDING VOICE PERFORMANCE

Ariana DeBose | Wish (Walt Disney Studios)

Ayo Edebiri | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem (Paramount Pictures)

Brian Tyree Henry  | Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Sony Pictures Releasing)

Daniel Kaluuya | Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Sony Pictures Releasing)

Shameik Moore | Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Sony Pictures Releasing)

OUTSTANDING INDEPENDENT FILM
(awarded to the director)

A Thousand and One (Focus Features)  | A.V. Rockwell, director

All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt (A24) | Raven Jackson, director

Earth Mama (A24)  | Savanah Leaf, director

How I Learned to Fly  (Film Movement)  | Simon Steuri, director

Rye Lane (Searchlight Pictures)  | Raine Allen-Miller, director

OUTSTANDING SHORT FILM
(awarded to the director)

ALIVE IN BRONZE: Huey P. Newton | A.K. Sandhu, director

Birthing A Nation: The Resistance of Mary Gaffney (MTV Documentary Films) | Nazenet Habtezghi, director

Black Girls Play: The Story of Hand Games (ESPN Films) | Joe Brewster & Michéle Stephenson, directors

The Dads (Netflix) | Luchina Fisher, director

The Last Repair Shop (Searchlight Pictures) | Kris Bowers & Ben Proudfoot, directors

OUTSTANDING SCORE
(awarded to the composer)  

American Symphony (Netflix) | Jon Batiste, composer

Chevalier (Searchlight Pictures) | Kris Bowers, composer

The Color Purple (Warner Bros.) | Kris Bowers, composer

Rustin (Netflix) | Brandford Marsalias, composer

They Cloned Tyrone (Netflix) | Desmond Murray & Pierre Charles, composers

OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SONG
(awarded to the performers & writers)  

“Am I Dreaming” (From Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse) | Metro Boomin, A$AP Rocky & Roisee performers; Leland Tyler Wayne, Roisee, Rakim Mayers, Mike Dean, Peter Lee Johnson and Landon “Script” Wayne, writers

“It Never Went Away” (From American Symphony) | Jon Batiste, writer & performer

“Keep It Moving” (From The Color Purple) | Halle Bailey & Phylicia Pearl Mpasi, performers; Halle Bailey, Denisia Andrews, Brittany Coney & Morten Ristorp, writers

“My House” (Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé) | Beyoncé, performer; Beyoncé Knowles & Terius “The-Dream” Adamu Ya Gesteelde-Diamant, writers

“Road to Freedom” (Rustin) | Lenny Kravitz, writer & performer

OUTSTANDING SOUNDTRACK

The Color Purple

Creed III

The Little Mermaid

Rustin

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse

OUTSTANDING EMERGING DIRECTOR

Blitz Bazawule | The Color Purple (Warner Bros.)

Raven Jackson | All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt (A24)

Cord Jefferson | American Fiction (Amazon MGM Studios)

A.V. Rockwell | A Thousand and One (Focus Features)

Juel Taylor  | They Cloned Tryone (Netflix)

OUTSTANDING BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE

Archie Madekwe | Grand Turismo (Sony Pictures Releasing)

Halle Bailey | The Little Mermaid (Walt Disney Studios)

Fantasia Barrino | The Color Purple (Warner Bros.)

Danielle Brooks | The Color Purple (Warner Bros.)

Jerrod Carmichael | Poor Things (Searchlight Pictures)

Phylicia Pearl Mpasi | The Color Purple (Warner Bros.)

Tia Nomore | Earth Mama (A24)

Vivian Oparah | Rye Lane (Searchlight Pictures)

Dewayne Perkins | The Blackening (Lionsgate)

Teyana Taylor |  A Thousand and One (Focus Features)

OUTSTANDING FIRST SCREENPLAY

A Thousand and One (Focus Features) | A.V. Rockwell

All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt (A24) | Raven Jackson

American Fiction (Amazon MGM Studios) | Cord Jefferson

The Color Purple (Warner Bros.) | Marcus Gardley

Earth Mama (A24) | Savanah Leaf

OUTSTANDING CINEMATOGRAPHY

All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt (A24) | Jomo Fray, cinematographer

Earth Mama (A24) | Jody Lee Lipes, cinematographer

Kokomo City (Magnolia Pictures) | D. Smith, cinematographer

Rye Lane (Searchlight Pictures) | Olan Collardy, cinematographer

Silver Dollar Road (Amazon MGM Studios) | Henry Adebonojo & Antonio Rossi, cinematographers

OUTSTANDING COSTUME DESIGN

Air (Amazon Studios) | Charlese Antoinette Jones, costume designer

The Color Purple (Warner Bros.) | Francine Jamison-Tanchuck, costume designer

Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé (AMC) | Beyoncé & Shiona Turini, costume designers

Rustin (Netflix) | Toni-Leslie James, costume designer

They Cloned Tyrone (Netflix) | Francine Jamison-Tanchuck, costume designer

OUTSTANDING EDITING

The Color Purple (Warner Bros.) | Jon Poll, editor

Kokomo City (Magnolia Pictures) | D. Smith, editor

Origin (Neon) | Spencer Averick, editor

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Sony Pictures) | Michael Andrews, editor

They Cloned Tyrone (Netflix) | Saira Haider, editor

OUTSTANDING HAIRSTYLING & MAKEUP

A Thousand and One (Focus Features) | Craig Carter, hair department head

Air (Amazon Studios) | Carla Farmer, hair department head

Bottoms (Amazon Studios) | Shandrea Williams, hair department head

The Color Purple (Warner Bros.) | Carol Rasheed, makeup department head & Lawrence Davis, hair department head

Rustin (Netflix) | Melissa Forney, hair department head & Beverly Jo Pryor, makeup department head

OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION DESIGN

Chevalier (Searchlight Pictures) | Karen Murphy, production designer

The Color Purple (Warner Bros.) | Paul D. Austerberry, production designer

Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé (AMC) | Hannah Beachler, production designer

Rustin (Netflix) | Mark Ricker, production designer

Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Sony Pictures Releasing) | Patrick O’Keefe, production designer

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