Black Reel Awards 2014: 12 Years a Slave Breaks the Record

Posted on February 17, 2014 at 1:37 pm

I always look forward to the announcement of the Black Reel Awards, which each year pay tribute to the greatest achievements of African-Americans and people of the African Diaspora in feature and independent films and television. This year, I was especially interested in the results because 2013 was unquestionably the best year in history for African-Americans in film — behind the screen, on the screen, and in the range of stories presented, from the real-life tragedies of “12 Years a Slave,” “Fruitvale Station,” and “Captain Phillips” to the genre films that may not have had lofty artistic aspirations but still gave African-American performers and film-makers a wider range of opportunities to tell their stories, even thrillers and romantic comedies.

“12 Years a Slave,” a stunning achievement with a good chance of winning this year’s Best Picture Oscar, was the big winner at the Black Reel Awards, breaking the all-time record set by “Precious” with a sweep of eight awards: Outstanding Motion Picture, outstanding actor for Chiwetel Ejiofor, Outstanding Supporting Actress for dazzling newcomer Lupita Nyong’o, who also won Outstanding Female Breakthrough Performance, Outstanding Director for Steve McQueen, Outstanding Screenplay for John Ridley, Outstanding Ensemble, and Outstanding Score for Hans Zimmer. “The fact that in one of the strongest years for Black film in recent memory, one film was able to be so dominant is a testament to the vision of Steve McQueen, the screenplay by John Ridley and the fantastic performances of the trio of actors led by Chiwetel Ejiofor and Lupita Nyong’o,” said Black Reel Awards creator and Executive Director, Tim Gordon. “This will be a year no one forgets.”

Other notable awards went to “Captain Phillips'” Barkhad Abdi (Outstanding Supporting Actor and Outstanding Male Breakthrough Performance) and Danai Gurira (Outstanding Actress) for her role in “Mother of George,” the story of Nigerian immigrants living in Brooklyn and struggling with infertility. Documentary honors went to “20 Feet from Stardom,” about the back-up singers who perform on hit records and are usually overlooked. A documentary about gay rights in the African-American community, “The New Black,” won the award for Outstanding Independent Documentary. Outstanding Independent Feature went to “Blue Caprice,” the story of the DC snipers.

The full list of awardees:

Outstanding Motion Picture
12 Years a Slave

Outstanding Actor
Chiwetel Ejiofor | 12 Years a Slave

Outstanding Actress
Danai Gurira | Mother of George

Outstanding Supporting Actor
Barkhad Abdi | Captain Phillips

Outstanding Supporting Actress
Lupita Nyong’o | 12 Years a Slave

Outstanding Director
Steve McQueen | 12 Years a Slave

Outstanding Screenplay
John Ridley | 12 Years a Slave

Outstanding Documentary
20 Feet From Stardom | Morgan Neville

Outstanding Ensemble
12 Years a Slave | Francine Maiser

Outstanding Foreign Film
War Witch | Canada

Outstanding Score
Hans Zimmer | 12 Years a Slave

Outstanding Original Song
“Desperation” by Judith Hill | 20 Feet From Stardom

Outstanding Breakthrough Performance, Male
Barkhad Abdi | Captain Phillips

Outstanding Breakthrough Performance, Female
Lupita Nyong’o | 12 Years a Slave

Outstanding Voice Performance
Samuel L. Jackson | Turbo

Outstanding Independent Feature
Blue Caprice | Alexandre Moors

Outstanding Independent Documentary
The New Black | Yoruba Richen

Outstanding Independent Short
Black Girl in Paris | Kiandra Parks

Outstanding Television Documentary
Whoopi Goldberg Presents Moms Mabley | Whoopi Goldberg

Outstanding TV Movie or Mini-Series
Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth

Outstanding TV Movie Actor
Chiwetel Ejiofor | Dancing on Edge

Outstanding TV Movie Actress
Anika Noni Rose | The Watsons Go to Birmingham

Outstanding Supporting Actor, TV Movie
Omari Hardwick | Being Mary Jane

Outstanding Supporting Actress, TV Movie
Octavia Spencer | Call Me Crazy: A Five Film

Outstanding Director, TV Movie
Spike Lee | Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth

Outstanding Screenplay, TV Movie
Mara Brock Akil | Being Mary Jane

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Awards Race and Diversity

Fruitvale Station

Posted on July 18, 2013 at 5:51 pm

The sadly timely release of Sundance award-winner “Fruitvale Station” begins with the shocking real-life cell phone footage shot in a San Francisco subway station on New Year’s Eve 2008. A young black man named Oscar Grant was handcuffed and lying on the ground when he was shot and killed by a policeman.

We then go back in time to see how Grant (a star-making performance by Michael B. Jordan of “The Wire”) spent the last day of his life. First-time writer-director Ryan Coogler creates an intimate, documentary feeling to the story, candid in its portrayal of a young man who has made some mistakes (he was a drug dealer, he has served time in prison, he cheated on his girlfriend, he gets fired for being late). But, with a transcendent performance by Jordan, we see that Grant was a devoted son and father who wants very much to be the man his mother, girlfriend, and daughter deserve.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ceVVVils8z4

We follow him through the day, seeing him charmingly assist a woman at the grocery story by calling his grandmother to advise her on a recipe, celebrating at the birthday party for his mother (Oscar-winner Octavia Spencer), and defusing a tense situation with a store owner. And all that time, we know he will be dead in the earliest hours of 2009. By the time it happens, we are different people than we were the first time we saw him get shot. We care about Oscar in a way that will make it harder to jump to conclusions about a young black man ever again.

Parents should know that this film includes some strong language, sexual references and situations, drug dealing, and a shocking murder.

Family discussion: Why was Oscar Grant shot? Do you agree with the punishment for the man who shot him? How does this relate to the debate over the verdict in the George Zimmerman/Treyvon Martin case?

If you like this, try: Melonie Diaz in “Raising Victor Vargas”

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