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

The African American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) has named Disney’s “Black Panther” the best film of the year with Ryan Coogler picking up the award for Best Director for his skillful direction of one of the most memorable Marvel movies.

The film also won Best Song (“All the Stars” performed by Kendrick Lamar and SZA) making it AAFCA’s top award-winner of 2018. It’s a major award for a film which has been largely ignored this award season and is the only film in the top 10 to have made the majority of its grosses from domestic receipts.

Actors John David Washington (“BlacKkKlansman”), Regina Hall (“Support the Girls”), Russell Hornsby (“The Hate U Give”), Regina King (“If Beale Street Could Talk”) and Amandla Stenberg (“The Hate U Give”) earned best acting nods with Sony’s “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” picking up the Best Animated Film accolade.  The documentary on “Quincy,” which takes an intimate look at the life of music industry giant  Quincy Jones received a Best Documentary nod while “Roma,” Alfonso Cuarón’s personal story of a Mexican family in the 1970s earned the Best Foreign Film prize.

“Selecting Disney’s “Black Panther” as the year’s best film was a no-brainer,” said AAFCA’s 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. 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.”

The world’s largest group of black film critics comprised of leading film critics from across the country also rolled out its annual top ten list, with all categories voted on by AAFCA members which included “Sorry to Bother You,” “If Beale Street Could Talk” “The Hate U Give” and the heist drama “Widows.”

The 10th Annual AAFCA Awards, sponsored by Nissan, Home Depot and Morgan Stanley Global Sports & Entertainment, will take place on February 6 at the Taglyan Complex.

Samantha Ofole-Prince is an entertainment industry specialist and contributes to Trendy Africa Magazine from Los Angeles