The Black Reel Awards, or BRAs, is an annual American awards ceremony hosted by the Foundation for the Augmentation of African Americans in film (FAAAF) to recognize excellence of African Americans, as well as the cinematic achievements of the African diaspora, in the global film industry, as assessed by the foundation’s voting membership. The various category winners are awarded a copy of a statuette, officially called the Black Reel Award. The awards, first presented in 2000 in Washington, DC, are overseen by FAAAF.
The awards ceremony was initially awarded online during its first two years before the first live show presentation in 2002. The awards have broadcast to radio since 2014. The Black Reel Awards is the oldest cinema-exclusive awards ceremony for African Americans.
History
Founded by film critic Tim Gordon and Sabrina McNeal in 2000, the first annual Black Reel Awards presentation was held on February 16, 2000, online courtesy of Reel Images Magazine.[1] Two years later, the third annual Black Reel Awards held its first live presentation at a private dinner function at the Cada Vez in Washington, DC, with an audience of about 150 people. Twenty statuettes were awarded, honoring African American artists, directors and other participants in the filmmaking industry, for their works in 2001. The ceremony ran for 90 minutes.
In subsequent years, the Black Reel Awards have largely been presented in the nation's capital, with the exception of one year when the awards were moved to New York. The awards have been presented live several times: the fourth annual Black Reel Awards presentation was held at H2O on the Southwest waterfront in Washington, DC with an audience of about 200 people; the sixth annual Black Reel Awards presentation was held at the French Embassy with an audience of about 350 people; and the thirteenth annual Black Reel Awards presentation was held at the MIST Harlem with an audience of about 200 people.
Initially winners were announced online. Later, the live awards presentations would use a sealed envelope to reveal the name of each winner.
The Black Reel Awards benefit the Foundation for the Advancement of African-Americans in Film (FAAAF), a non-profit arts organization whose mission is to provide educational opportunities to future minority film executives. Through the FAAAF programs "Reel Kids", and "Producer's Institute", scholarships are awarded to minority junior high, high school and college graduate students pursuing careers in the movie and television industries.
In 2015, the foundation changed its name to the Foundation for the Augmentation of African-Americans in Film.[2]
In 2005, three categories, Outstanding Actor, Outstanding Actress, as well as Outstanding Film awards were split into two separate categories (Drama and Musical/Comedy). In addition, the Outstanding Original Television Program was discontinued in 2005 and later expanded and resurfaced in 2015 as the Outstanding Television Documentary or Special category.
In 2024, the categories for Outstanding Actor and Actress and Outstanding Supporting Actor and Actress were retired in favor of gender-neutral Outstanding Lead Performance and Outstanding Supporting Performance categories.
A television awards, known as the Black Reel Awards for Television was first presented on August 1, 2017. The awards honors performers, programs, directors and writers over 27 categories in drama, comedy, music, documentaries and TV Movie or Limited Series. The TV Movie or Limited Series categories, which previously were honored as part of the Black Reel Awards were moved to the television awards.
Special categories
The Special Black Reel Awards are voted on by special foundation committees, rather than by the voting academy membership as a whole. They are not always presented on a consistent annual basis.
Current special categories
Vanguard Entertainer of the Year Award: since 2004
Oscar Micheaux Filmmaker Distinction Award: since 2017
Sidney Poitier Lifetime Achievement Award: since 2017
Below are the motion picture films with 10 or more nominations. The Harder They Fall holds the record for the most nominations with 20 while Black Panther holds the record for most wins for a single film with 10 categorical wins. 12 Years a Slave, Selma, and Dolemite Is My Name are tied for second place with 8 wins apiece. BlacKkKlansman currently holds the record for most nominations without a single win (11).
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