Black Reel Award for Outstanding Director

Black Reel Award for Outstanding Director
Awarded forOutstanding Director
CountryUnited States
Presented byBlack Reel Awards (BRAs)
First awarded2000 (to Malcolm D. Lee for The Best Man)
Most recent winnerCord Jefferson
American Fiction (2024)
Websiteblackreelawards.com

The Black Reel Award for Outstanding Director is an award presented annually by the Black Reel Awards (BRA). It is given in honor of a film director who has exhibited outstanding directing while working in the film industry.

History

Director, Malcolm D. Lee took home the first award for The Best Man at the 1st Annual Black Reel Awards.

The Black Reel Awards for Outstanding Director and Black Reel Award for Outstanding Film has been closely linked throughout their history. Out of the 22 films that have been awarded Outstanding Film, 10 have also been awarded Outstanding Director.

Since its inception, the award has been given to 18 directors or directing teams. Ava DuVernay, Ryan Coogler, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Jordan Peele & Steve McQueen has received the most awards in this category with two. Spike Lee has been nominated eleven times, more than any other individual. At age 29, Ryan Coogler became the youngest director to win this award for his work on Creed. Thomas Carter holds the record for the oldest director to win at 52 for Coach Carter.

Brothers, Albert Hughes & Allen Hughes are the only directing team to share this award as they won for The Book of Eli at the 11th Annual Black Reel Awards. Gina Prince-Bythewood became the first woman to be nominated and win in this category for Love & Basketball.

Winners and nominees

Winners are listed first and highlighted in bold.

2000s

Year Director Film Ref
2000
Malcolm D. Lee The Best Man [1]
Rick Famuyiwa The Wood
Spike Lee Summer of Sam
2001
Gina Prince-Bythewood Love & Basketball [2]
Kwyn Bader Loving Jezebel
Albert Hughes and Allen Hughes American Pimp
Spike Lee Bamboozled
John Singleton Shaft
2002
Antoine Fuqua Training Day [3]
Thomas Carter Save the Last Dance
Gary Hardwick The Brothers
Albert Hughes and Allen Hughes From Hell
John Singleton Baby Boy
2003
Denzel Washington Antwone Fisher [4]
Malcolm D. Lee Undercover Brother
Spike Lee 25th Hour
Charles Stone III Drumline
Tim Story Barbershop
2004
F. Gary Gray The Italian Job [5]
Carl Franklin Out of Time
Antoine Fuqua Tears of the Sun
Gary Hardwick Deliver Us From Eva
John Singleton 2 Fast 2 Furious
2005
Mario Van Peebles BAADASSSSS! [6]
Ernest Dickerson Never Die Alone
Antoine Fuqua Lighting in a Bottle
Spike Lee She Hate Me
Charles Stone III Mr. 3000
2006
Thomas Carter Coach Carter [7]
Malcolm D. Lee Roll Bounce
John Singleton Four Brothers
Tim Story Fantastic Four
2007
Spike Lee Inside Man [8]
Bryan Barber Idlewild
Sanaa Hamri Something New
Clark Johnson The Sentinel
Chris Robinson ATL
2008
Gina Prince-Bythewood The Secret Life of Bees [9]
Malcolm D. Lee Soul Men
Spike Lee Miracle at St. Anna
Darnell Martin Cadillac Records
Gabriele Muccino Seven Pounds

2010s

Year Director Film Ref
2010
Lee Daniels Precious [10]
Bill Duke Not Easily Broken
Spike Lee Passing Strange
Scott Sanders Black Dynamite
George Tillman Jr. Notorious
2011
Albert Hughes and Allen Hughes The Book of Eli [11]
Antoine Fuqua Brooklyn's Finest
Tanya Hamilton Night Catches Us
Sanaa Hamri Just Wright
Tyler Perry For Colored Girls
2012
Steve McQueen Shame [12]
Salim Akil Jumping the Broom
Qasim Basir Mooz-lum
Ava DuVernay I Will Follow
Dee Rees Pariah
2013
Ava DuVernay Middle of Nowhere [13]
Salim Akil Sparkle
Spike Lee Red Hook Summer
Peter Ramsey Rise of the Guardians
Tim Story Think Like a Man
2014
Steve McQueen 12 Years a Slave [14]
Ryan Coogler Fruitvale Station
Lee Daniels The Butler
Malcolm D. Lee The Best Man Holiday
George Tillman Jr. The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete
2015
Ava DuVernay Selma [15]
Amma Asante Belle
Gina Prince-Bythewood Beyond the Lights
Chris Rock Top Five
Justin Simien Dear White People
2016
Ryan Coogler Creed [16]
Rick Famuyiwa Dope
Antoine Fuqua Southpaw
F. Gary Gray Straight Outta Compton
Spike Lee Chi-Raq
2017
Barry Jenkins Moonlight [17]
Don Cheadle Miles Ahead
Antoine Fuqua The Magnificent Seven
Nate Parker The Birth of a Nation
Denzel Washington Fences
2018
Jordan Peele Get Out [18]
Maggie Betts Novitiate
Reginald Hudlin Marshall
Malcolm D. Lee Girls Trip
Dee Rees Mudbound
2019
Ryan Coogler Black Panther [19]
Barry Jenkins If Beale Street Could Talk
Steve McQueen Widows
Spike Lee BlacKkKlansman
Boots Riley Sorry to Bother You

2020s

Year Director Film Ref
2020
Jordan Peele Us [20]
Mati Diop Atlantics
Kasi Lemmons Harriet
Melina Matsoukas Queen & Slim
Julius Onah Luce
2021
Regina King One Night in Miami... [21]
Radha Blank The Forty-Year-Old Version
Shaka King Judas and the Black Messiah
Spike Lee Da 5 Bloods
Channing Godfrey Peoples Miss Juneteenth
2022
Jeymes Samuel The Harder They Fall [22][23]
Halle Berry Bruised
Nia DaCosta Candyman
Reinaldo Marcus Green King Richard
Rebecca Hall Passing
2023
Gina Prince-Bythewood The Woman King [24][25]
Elegance Bratton The Inspection
Chinonye Chukwu Till
Ryan Coogler Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Jordan Peele Nope
2024
Cord Jefferson American Fiction [26]
Blitz the Ambassador The Color Purple
Ava DuVernay Origin
Michael B. Jordan Creed III
A. V. Rockwell A Thousand and One
2025
Titus Kaphar Exhibiting Forgiveness [27]
Zoë Kravitz Blink Twice
Steve McQueen Blitz
RaMell Ross Nickel Boys
Malcolm Washington The Piano Lesson

Multiple nominations and wins

Multiple wins

3 wins
2 wins

Multiple Nominees

Age superlatives

Record Director Film Age (in years)
Oldest winner Thomas Carter Coach Carter 52
Oldest nominee Bill Duke Not Easily Broken 66
Youngest winner Ryan Coogler Creed 29
Youngest nominee Rick Famuyiwa The Wood 26

Diversity of Nominees

Female nominees/winners

Nineteen female directors have been nominated for a total twenty-six times in this category, and three have won the award.

Documentary nominees/winners

Three directors of a documentary film have been nominated in this category.

Animated nominees/winners

One director of an animated film has been nominated in this category.

Non-English language nominees/winners

One director of a non-English film has been nominated in this category.

bold — Indicates winner
† — Film nominated for Outstanding Film
‡ — Film won for Outstanding Film

References

  1. ^ "Black Reel Awards (2000)". IMDb.
  2. ^ "Black Reel Awards (2001)". IMDb.
  3. ^ "Black Reel Awards (2002)". IMDb.
  4. ^ "Black Reel Awards (2003)". IMDb.
  5. ^ "Black Reel Awards (2004)". IMDb.
  6. ^ "Black Reel Awards (2005)". IMDb.
  7. ^ "Black Reel Awards (2006)". IMDb.
  8. ^ "Black Reel Awards (2007)". IMDb.
  9. ^ "Black Reel Awards (2008)". IMDb.
  10. ^ "Black Reel Awards (2010)". IMDb.
  11. ^ "Black Reel Awards (2011)". IMDb.
  12. ^ "Black Reel Awards (2012)". IMDb.
  13. ^ "Critics Wild About Beasts". Black Reel Awards. February 8, 2013. Retrieved August 1, 2016.
  14. ^ "2014 Black Reel Awards – Nominees". Black Reel Awards. December 11, 2014. Retrieved August 1, 2016.
  15. ^ "Black Reel Awards (2015)". IMDb.
  16. ^ "Black Reel Awards (2016)". IMDb.
  17. ^ "Black Reel Awards (2017)". IMDb.
  18. ^ "Black Reel Awards (2018)". IMDb.
  19. ^ "Black Reel Awards (2019)". IMDb.
  20. ^ "Black Reel Awards (2020)". IMDb.
  21. ^ "Black Reel Awards (2021)". IMDb.
  22. ^ "Black Reel Awards (2022)". IMDb.
  23. ^ The 22nd Black Reel Awards Honors its Winners, Led by The Harder They Fall|Festival & Awards|Roger Ebert
  24. ^ "Black Reel Awards (2023)". IMDb.
  25. ^ 23rd Black Reel award winners: 'The Woman King', 'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever', 'The Inspection' - AwardsWatch
  26. ^ Complex, Valerie (January 16, 2024). "Black Reel Awards Reveals Winners of Film and Television Categories; 'American Fiction' and 'The Color Purple' Take Home Top Honors". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 17, 2024.
  27. ^ "25th Annual Black Reel Awards Nominees". Black Reel Awards. December 19, 2024. Retrieved December 20, 2024.