‘Selma’ Wins Big at the AAFCA Awards & NAACP Image Award Nominations

Margaret here with a look at the nominees for the 2014 NAACP Image Awards, as well as the winners of the African American Film Critics Association year-end prizes.

It continues to be a good season for Selma, which racked up eight Image Award nominations-- especially impressive when you consider that there are only seven categories. (Six of its nominations are for acting.) Period drama Belle and James Brown biopic Get On Up both received five nominations each, and the music industry romantic drama Beyond the Lights earned three.

The AAFCA announced their awards, naming Selma best picture alongside nine other outstanding films. The AAFCA Top Ten Films of 2014 are as follows in order of distinction: 

• SELMA
• THE IMITATION GAME
• THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING
• BIRDMAN
• BELLE
• TOP FIVE
• UNBROKEN
• DEAR WHITE PEOPLE
• GET ON UP
• BLACK OR WHITE

A complete list of AAFCA winners, and Image nominees (some interesting stuff - now with double the Viola Davis!)  after the jump...

I understand why many critics’ groups release their top-ten-lists ‘in no particular order’, but isn’t it so much juicier to see where things rank? The top four here are certainly destined to be awards powerhouses (and Unbroken is far from a longshot), but the rest of these movies have been undersung. In fact, I’ve heard next to nothing about Black or White, which until very recently with its qualifying week was looking like a 2015 release. Variety is always something to celebrate, or at least be curious about, when we’re inching toward mid-December and so many “best” narratives are already set.

REMAINING AAFCA AWARDS WINNERS:

BEST ACTOR - DAVID OYELOWO, "SELMA"

BEST ACTRESS - GUGU MBATHA-RAW, "BELLE"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS - OCTAVIA SPENCER, "BLACK OR WHITE"

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR (tie) - TYLER PERRY, "GONE GIRL"/J.K. SIMMONS, "WHIPLASH"

I’m willing to bet that’s a Best Supporting Actor tie that nobody ever thought they’d see..

BEST DIRECTOR - AVA DUVERNAY, "SELMA"

BEST SCREENPLAY - GINA PRINCE-BYTHEWOOD, "BEYOND THE LIGHTS"

BEST MUSIC - JOHN LEGEND/COMMON, "GLORY" (FROM "SELMA")

I expect this won’t be the last we see of this song in the awards season. John Legend and Common are high-profile enough a Globe nomination, no?

BEST ENSEMBLE - "GET ON UP"

BEST INDEPENDENT FILM - "DEAR WHITE PEOPLE"

BREAKOUT PERFORMANCE - TESSA THOMPSON, "DEAR WHITE PEOPLE"

So excited for what’s to come from Tessa Thompson. It’s nice to see her snapping up Breakout Performance Awards. Let’s hope she ends up on a similar path to her recent Breakout-Performer predecessor, Michael B. Jordan, and starts booking all kinds of studio roles.

BEST ANIMATION - "THE BOXTROLLS"

BEST DOCUMENTARY - "LIFE ITSELF"

BEST WORLD CINEMA - "TIMBUKTU"

NAACP IMAGE AWARD NOMINATIONS - FILM

OUTSTANDING MOTION PICTURE

• BELLE
• BEYOND THE LIGHTS
• DEAR WHITE PEOPLE
• GET ON UP
• SELMA

A great shortlist of films. What's more, four out of the five nominated films were made by directors of color (for the second year in a row!), and three of those four are women of color. At a time when it’s still rare to see individual movies directed by women lauded by awards groups, let alone women of color, it’s marvelous to see Amma Asante, Ava DuVernay, and Gina Prince-Bythewood recognized widely and concurrently. 

OUTSTANDING ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE

• CHADWICK BOSEMAN - "GET ON UP"
• DAVID OYELOWO - "SELMA"
• DENZEL WASHINGTON - "THE EQUALIZER"
• IDRIS ELBA - "NO GOOD DEED"
• NATE PARKER - "BEYOND THE LIGHTS

It’s surprising to see no love for Top Five, considering its major critical success (currently 91% on RottenTomatoes) but perhaps it would have shown up elsewhere if the NAACP Image Awards had screenplay or directing categories.

OUTSTANDING ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE

Jessica Chastain & Viola Davis in the underseen but quality "The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Her"

• GUGU MBATHA-RAW - "BELLE"
• QUVENZHANE WALLIS - "ANNIE"
• TARAJI P. HENSON - "NO GOOD DEED"
• TESSA THOMPSON - "DEAR WHITE PEOPLE"
• VIOLA DAVIS - "THE DISAPPEARANCE OF ELEANOR RIGBY"

Viola’s role in Eleanor Rigby is on the small side, but since this awards body (like the Oscars) won’t double-nominate actors in the same category, they shifted the performance to lead while recognizing her in the Supporting for her part in Get On Up. They must also have had to choose between Gugu Mbatha-Raw’s two lauded star turns this year, opting for the more traditionally awards-friendly Belle over Beyond the Lights. 

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A MOTION PICTURE 

• ANDRE HOLLAND - "SELMA"
• CEDRIC THE ENTERTAINER - "TOP FIVE"
• COMMON - "SELMA"
• DANNY GLOVER - "BEYOND THE LIGHTS"
• WENDELL PIERCE - "SELMA"

OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A MOTION PICTURE 

did you read our post about Selma's premiere in Los Angeles?

• CARMEN EJOGO - "SELMA"
• JILL SCOTT - "GET ON UP"
• OCTAVIA SPENCER - "GET ON UP"
• OPRAH WINFREY - "SELMA"
• VIOLA DAVIS - "GET ON UP"

These almost feel like ensemble nominations for the casts of Selma and Get On Up. [SAG reference?]

OUTSTANDING INDEPENDENT MOTION PICTURE 

• "BELLE"
• "DEAR WHITE PEOPLE"
• "HALF OF A YELLOW SUN"
• "LIFE OF A KING"
• "JIMI: ALL IS BY MY SIDE"

Having heard great things about Andre Benjamin's performance in Jimi one wonders how he didn't make the Best Actor shortlist?

OUTSTANDING DOCUMENTARY (THEATRICAL) 

• "DOCUMENTED"
• "FINDING FELA"
• "I AM ALI"
• "KEEP ON KEEPIN ON"
• "THROUGH A LENS DARKLY: BLACK PHOTOGRAPHERS AND THE EMERGENCE OF A PEOPLE" 

Only one of these, Keep on Keeping On, is on the 15-wide list of finalists for the Best Documentary Oscar. Great to have a reminder of the other fine work outside of that high-profile shortlist.

Thoughts? How many of these pictures just went on your "must find and see" list? 

Comments

[DJDeeJay]

Ugh. How have I still not seen Dear White People? I need to get to that ASAP.

[Glenn]

That correlation of female directors (of color, too!) in the best picture roster is fantastic.

[eurocheese]

Interesting that AAFCA went with Spencer and not Ejogo. Very happy for Gugu all around. Aniston and Cotillard seem like the most logical choices for that fifth Oscar Actress slot now, but I could see her being an Oscar morning surprise (for "Belle").

[Faith]

I'm not surprised to see Andre Benjamin left off of the Best Actor list. While he does an excellent imitation of Hendrix, it's a pretty lifeless performance (though I suppose it can largely be blamed on an awful script).