‘The Harder They Fall’ Wins Big At African American Film Critics Association Awards

January 18, 2022

The Harder They Fall has earned top honors at the 2022 African American Film Critics Association Awards. The western film with an all-Black cast released by Netflix took the categories Best Picture, Best Director (Jeymes Samuel), Best Ensemble, and Best Music.

“It’s been a fantastic year for film,” said AAFCA president and co-founder Gil Robertson in a statement. “Just having passed the two-year mark of a global pandemic, great entertainment means more to all of us than ever before. This year’s AAFCA winners not only entertained us but educated and inspired us and we’re looking forward to celebrating them at the AAFCA Awards.”

Will Smith was named Best Actor for his portrayal of Richard Williams in King Richard. Also from the film, Aunjanue Ellis won Best Supporting Actress and rising talent Saniyya Sidney won the Breakout Actor Award.  For Aretha Franklin’s biopic, Respect, Jennifer Hudson was named Best Actress.

Winners will be celebrated at the 13th Annual AAFCA Awards on March 2nd at the SLS Hotel in Los Angeles with a limited capacity audience and other health and safety protocols in place.

Winners are voted on by AAFCA’s 90+ members, and additional special achievement awards will be announced in the coming weeks including the Cinema Vanguard Award, the ICON Award, AAFCA’s Stanley & Karen Kramer Award for Social Justice, the Building Change Award presented by Lowes and the Innovator Award presented by Nissan.

View the complete winner’s list for the 2022 African American Film Critics Association Awards below.

Best Picture: The Harder They Fall

Best Director: Jeymes Samuel (The Harder They Fall)

Best Screenplay: Don’t Look Up (Adam McKay)

Best Actor: Will Smith (King Richard)

Best Actress: Jennifer Hudson (Respect)

Best Supporting Actor: Corey Hawkins (The Tragedy of Macbeth)

Best Supporting Actress: Aunjanue Ellis (King Richard)

Breakout Actor: Saniyya Sidney (King Richard)

Best Ensemble: The Harder They Fall

Emerging Director: Reinaldo Marcus Green (King Richard)

Best Music: The Harder They Fall (Jeymes Samuel, Kid Cudi, Jay-Z)

Best Independent Feature: Who We Are

Best Documentary: Summer of Soul

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