The African American Film Critics Association has announced the winners for this year’s AAFCA Awards and the top 10 films of the year including the global box office hit Black Panther.

Disney/Marvel’s Black Panther has made history since its February release. The Ryan Coogler-directed film became the highest-grossing superhero movie in North America, the most-tweeted-about movie and the first film to be shown in Saudi Arabia in 35 years. In addition, for its cultural impact EBONY named Black Panther an Entertainment & Arts Power 100 nominee.

“Selecting Disney’s “Black Panther” as the year’s best film was a no-brainer,” stated AAFCA co-founder Shawn Edwards.

“Beyond its tremendous reviews and historic box office performance, the film changed the culture and became a defining moment for Black America. Finally, after years of painfully negative and blatantly harmful depictions of blacks on screen there was a movie full of positive images and characters that blacks could rally around. For many blacks the film’s release was like a national holiday. The movie sparked a sense of pride and inspired Afro-futurism-theme parties, academic panel discussions, scholarship funds, vacation plans to Africa and thousands of black kids dressing-up like their favorite characters on Halloween. Many have waited a lifetime for a moment like this and “Black Panther” delivered with a multi-generational appeal never before seen.”

This year was an excellent year for diversity in Hollywood. Films and shows including Insecure, Red Table Talk and BlacKkKlansman, all of which were also honored by the AAFCA, shattered the preconceived notion that Black entertainment is niched.

Photo courtesy of AAFCA.

“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.”

AAFCA Awards Winners:

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
Best TV Drama: Queen Sugar
Best TV ComedyInsecure

In the coming weeks, the AAFCA will announce the winners of special achievement awards including the Cinema Vanguard Award, the ICON Award, AAFCA’s Stanley Kramer Award and the organization’s inaugural Pioneer Award.

For additional information, please visit AAFCA.COM. Take a look at the organization’s top 10 movies of the year below.

AAFCA’s Top Ten List:

  1. Black Panther (Walt Disney Studios)
  2. If Beale Street Could Talk (Annapurna Pictures)
  3. The Hate U Give (20th 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 (20th Century Fox)

The AAFCA Awards will be sponsored by Nissan, Home Depot and Morgan Stanley Global Sports & Entertainment and will take place on Feb. 6 at the Taglyan Complex in Hollywood.