Of the six most nominated films of the year, only 3 of them are good enough to be nominated for Best Motion Picture while one film with only two nominations (including Best Picture) is also slated. Perhaps if the quality of the inclusions weren’t inferior to the quality of the exclusions, it might not be so obvious but Nickel Boys is one of the most acclaimed films of the year whereas neither Bad Boys nor Bob Marley nor The Six Triple Eight can claim to be more acclaimed (not even close. It just makes one wonder what the point of these is if it’s not to recognize and celebrate great Black filmmakers and great Black films?

Nominations Tallies

(14) The Piano Lesson
(6) Bob Marley: One Love, The Book of Clarence, Exhibiting Forgiveness, Nickel Boys
(5) The Six Triple Eight, Wicked
(4) Shirley
(3) Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist, The Fire Inside, Mufasa: The Lion King, Sing Sing
(2) Albany Road, The American Society of Magical Negroes, Bad Boys: Ride or Die, Blitz, Color Book, Emilia Pérez, The Greatest Night in Pop, Inside Out 2, Luther: Never Too Much, We Grown Now, The Wild Robot
(1) Bel-Air, The Big Cigar, Blink Twice, Camille A. Brown: Giant Steps, Challengers, Chocolate with Sprinkles, Cross, Danielle Scott: Ancestral Call, Daughters, Definitely Not a Monster, The Deliverance, Dune: Part Two, El Lugar de la Otra, Frida, Genius: MLK/X, Gladiator II, Grotesquerie, How to Sue the Klan, If They Took Us Back, if(fy), James Brown: Say It Loud, Judging Juries, King of Kings: Chasing Edward Jones, Kung Fu Panda 4, Longlegs, Megan Thee Stallion: In Her Words, Memoir of a Snail, Moana 2, My Brother & Me, Nate & John, Never Let Go, Ol’ Dirty Bastard: A Tale of Two Dirtys, Peanut Headz: Black History Toonz “Jackie Robinson”, The Penguin, Piece by Piece, A Quiet Place: Day One, Reasonable Doubt, Rebel Ridge, Red One, Rob Peace, The Seed of the Sacred Fig, Self, She Taught Love, Shogun, Silent Killer, Star Wars: The Acolyte, Superman Doesn’t Steal, Them: The Scare, Walk in the Light, The Wall Street Boy

The Nominations

Best Motion Picture

Bad Boys: Ride or Die
Bob Marley: One Love
The Piano Lesson
The Six Triple Eight
Wicked

Best Animated Picture

Inside Out 2
Kung Fu Panda 4
Moana 2
Piece by Piece
The Wild Robot

Best Directing

Reinaldo Marcus Green – Bob Marley: One Love
Steve McQueen – Blitz
RaMell Ross – Nickel Boys
Jeymes Samuel – The Book of Clarence
Malcolm Washington – The Piano Lesson

Best Actor

Kingsley Ben-Adir – Bob Marley: One Love
Colman Domingo – Sing Sing
André Holland – Exhibiting Forgiveness
Martin Lawrence – Bad Boys: Ride or Die
John David Washington – The Piano Lesson

Best Actress

Cynthia Erivo – Wicked
Regina King: Shirley
Lashana Lynch – Bob Marley: One Love
Lupita Nyong’o – A Quiet Place: Day One
Kerry Washington – The Six Triple Eight

Best Supporting Actor

David Alan Grier – The American Society of Magical Negroes
Corey Hawkins – The Piano Lesson
Brian Tyree Henry – The Fire Inside
Samuel L. Jackson – The Piano Lesson
Denzel Washington – Gladiator II

Best Supporting Actress

Danielle Deadwyler – The Piano Lesson
Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor – Exhibiting Forgiveness
Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor – Nickel Boys
Ebony Obsidian – The Six Triple Eight
Lynn Whitfield – Albany Road

Best Writing

Blitz
Exhibiting Forgiveness
The Fire Inside
Nickel Boys
The Piano Lesson

Best Original Score

The American Society of Magical Negroes
The Book of Clarence
Challengers
Dune: Part Two
Star Wars: The Acolyte

Best Cinematography

The Book of Clarence
Exhibiting Forgiveness
Longlegs
Nickel Boys
She Taught Love

Best Costume Design

The Big Cigar
Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist
The Piano Lesson
Shirley
Wicked

Best Make-Up

The Book of Clarence
Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist
The Piano Lesson
Shirley
Shogun

Best Hairstyling

Bel-Air
Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist
The Penguin
The Piano Lesson
Shirley

Best International Motion Picture

Emilia Pérez
El Lugar de la Otra
Emilia Pérez
Memoir of a Snail
The Seed of the Sacred Fig
The Wall Street Boy

Best Documentary

Daughters
Frida
The Greatest Night in Pop
King of Kings: Chasing Edward Jones
Luther: Never Too Much

Best Short Form (Documentary)

Camille A. Brown: Giant Steps
Danielle Scott: Ancestral Call
How to Sue the Klan
Judging Juries
Silent Killer

Best Short Form (Animated)

if(fy)
Nate & John
Peanut Headz: Black History Toonz “Jackie Robinson”
Self
Walk in the Light

Best Short Form (Live Action)

Chocolate with Sprinkles
Definitely Not a Monster
If They Took Us Back
My Brother & Me
Superman Doesn’t Steal

Best Youth Performance

Percy Daggs IV – Never Let Go
Jeremiah Daniels – Color Book
Blake Cameron James – We Grown Now
Anthony B. Jenkins – The Deliverance
Skylar Aleece Smith – The Piano Lesson

Best Breakthrough Performance in a Motion Picture

Danielle Deadwyler – The Piano Lesson
Ryan Destiny – The Fire Inside
Clarence Maclin – Sing Sing
Ebony Obsidian – The Six Triple Eight
Brandon Wilson – Nickel Boys

Best Character Voice-Over Performance (Television or Film)

Blue Ivy Carter – Mufasa: The Lion King
Ayo Edebiri – Inside Out 2
Lupita Nyong’o – The Wild Robot
Aaron Pierre – Mufasa: The Lion King
Anika Noni Rose – Mufasa: The Lion King

Best Ensemble

Bob Marley: One Love
The Book of Clarence
The Piano Lesson
The Six Triple Eight
Wicked

Best Soundtrack/Compilation Album

Bob Marley: One Love
The Book of Clarence
Genius: MLK/X
Reasonable Doubt
Wicked

Best Stunt Ensemble

Cross
Grotesquerie
Rebel Ridge
Red One
Them: The Scare

Breakthrough Creative in a Motion Picture

David Fortune – Color Book
Titus Kaphar – Exhibiting Forgiveness
Zoë Kravitz – Blink Twice
RaMell Ross – Nickel Boys
Malcolm Washington – The Piano Lesson

Best Independent Motion Picture

Albany Road
Exhibiting Forgiveness
Rob Peace
Sing Sing
We Grown Now

Best Directing in a Documentary

Deborah Riley Draper – James Brown: Say It Loud
Bao Nguyen – The Greatest Night in Pop
Nneka Onuorah – Megan Thee Stallion: In Her Words
Jason Pollard, Sam Pollard – Ol’ Dirty Bastard: A Tale of Two Dirtys
Dawn Porter – Luther: Never Too Much

Entertainer of the Year

.Cynthia Erivo
.Kevin Hart
.Kendrick Lamar
.Keke Palmer
.Shannon Sharpe

NAACP Image Awards Data

Year Founded: 1909
First Awards: 1968 (56)