2024 Black Reel Awards: “The Color Purple” Leads the Way With 19 Nods

Screenshot from
Screenshot from "The Color Purple"

The Black Reel Awards are set to return this January, and the list of nominees is truly an embarrassment of riches. The musical adaptation of Alice Walker’s novel The Color Purple is leading the way with 19 nods, including the outstanding film.

The Color Purple will have to beat many major contenders to walk away with the coveted award for the outstanding film. The list of nominees in this category also includes Cord Jefferson’s American Fiction, Ava DuVernay’s Origin, George C. Wolfe’s Rustin, and the animated film Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.

The Color Purple owes most of its nominations to its amazing cast, with Fantasia Barrino, Taraji P. Henson, Danielle Brooks, Colman Domingo, and Phylicia Pearl Mpasi all scoring nods for their respective performances in this musical.

The Color Purple cast also scored a joint nomination for the best ensemble, where the list of contenders also includes American Fiction, The Blackening, Rustin, and They Cloned Tyrone.

Rustin will be the ceremony’s second most-nominated film with ten nods, while its star Colman Domingo will be honored with the inaugural Chadwick Boseman Vanguard Award.

The Black Reel Awards winners will be on January 16, 2024, along with the winners of the Black Reel TV Awards.

FULL LIST OF NOMINATIONS FOR THE 2024 BLACK REEL AWARDS:

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