The Black Reel Award for Outstanding Film is one of the Black Reel Awards presented annually. This award goes to the producers of the film. Outstanding Film is the final award of the night at each ceremony. There have been 120 films nominated for Outstanding Film and 24 winners.
History
Outstanding Film and Outstanding Director The Black Reel Award for Outstanding Picture and Black Reel Award for Outstanding Director have been closely linked throughout their history. Of the 22 films that have won Outstanding Film, 10 have also been awarded for Outstanding Director. Only six films have been awarded Outstanding Film without receiving an Outstanding Director nomination: The Hurricane directed by Norman Jewison, Ray directed by Taylor Hackford (2005), Crash directed by Paul Haggis (2006), Dreamgirls directed by Bill Condon (2017), The Help directed by Tate Taylor (2012) and Dolemite Is My Name directed by Craig Brewer (2020). Note: These film directors were deemed ineligible for an Outstanding Director nomination due to not being of African-American of African descent.
Language and country of origin Only one non-English language film has been nominated in the category: The Intouchables (French, 2013). Five films wholly financed outside of the United States has been nominated for Outstanding Film: Attack the Block (2011), Shame (2011), The Intouchables (2013), Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (2013) and Belle (2014).
Genres The Princess and the Frog, Soul, and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse are the only animated films to be nominated for Outstanding Film. Black Panther remains as the only comic book film to win Outstanding Film; Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse are the only other comic book films to be nominated. Get Out became the first horror film to win Outstanding Film and one of three films along with From Hell and Us to be nominated in this category.
Lightning in a Bottle is the only documentary film to win. It won in the first and only winner in the Outstanding Comedy/Musical film at the 5th Annual Black Reel Awards. Standing in the Shadows of Motown, Tupac: Resurrection, Fade to Black and 13th were the other documentaries to be nominated in this category.
Dreamgirls is the only musical to win this category. To date, The Book of Eli and Attack the Block are the only two science fiction films to be nominated for Outstanding Film.
Winners and nominees Winners are listed first and highlighted in bold.
2000s Year Film Distributor Producer(s) Ref 2000 The Hurricane Universal Studios Norman Jewison, John Ketchem and Armyan Bernstein 2000 Black Reel Awards The Best Man Universal Pictures Bill Carraro, Sam Kitt and Spike Lee Life Universal Pictures Eddie Murphy and Brian Grazer The Wood Paramount Pictures David Gale, Albert Berger and Ron Yerxa 2001 Love & Basketball New Line Cinema Spike Lee and Sam Kitt 2001 Black Reel Awards Bamboozled New Line Cinema John Kilik and Spike Lee Girlfight Screen Gems Maggie Renzi, Martha Griffin and Sarah Green Men of Honor 20th Century Fox Bill Badalato and Robert Teitel Remember the Titans Walt Disney Pictures Chad Oman and Jerry Bruckheimer 2002 Training Day Warner Bros. Pictures Bruce Berman and Davis Guggenheim 2002 Black Reel Awards Ali Columbia Pictures Michael Mann, Jon Peters and James Lassiter Baby Boy Columbia Pictures John Singleton The Brothers Screen Gems Doug McHenry and Paddy Cullen From Hell 20th Century Fox Don Murphy, Amy Robinson and Jane Hamsher 2003 Antwone Fisher Fox Searchlight Pictures Denzel Washington, Randa Haines and Todd Black 2003 Black Reel Awards 25th Hour Touchstone Pictures John Kilik, Spike Lee and Julia Chasman Barbershop Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer George Tillman Jr., Mark Brown and Robert Teitel Drumline 20th Century Fox Timothy M. Bourne, Wendy Finerman and Jody Gerson Standing in the Shadows of Motown Artisan Entertainment Paul Justman and Alan Slutsky 2004 Out of Time Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Neal H. Moritz, Damien Saccani and Jesse Beaton 2004 Black Reel Awards The Fighting Temptations Paramount Pictures Loretha C. Jones, Benny Medina and Jeff Pollack The Italian Job Paramount Pictures Donald De Line S.W.A.T. Columbia Pictures Neal H. Moritz, Chris Lee and Dan Halsted Tupac: Resurrection Paramount Pictures Preston Holmes, Karoyln Ali and Lauren Lazin 2005 Drama Ray Universal Pictures Howard Baldwin, Taylor Hackford and Bob Yari 2005 Black Reel Awards BAADASSSSS! Sony Pictures Classics Mario Van Peebles I, Robot 20th Century Fox Topher Dow, Laurence Mark and Wyck Godfrey Comedy / Musical Lightning in a Bottle Sony Pictures Alex Gibney, Margaret Bodde and Jack Gulick Barbershop 2: Back in Business Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer George Tillman Jr., Robert Teitel and Alex Gartner Fade to Black Paramount Vantage Bob Ezrin, Rich Kleiman and Justin Wilkes 2006 Crash Lionsgate Paul Haggis, Cathy Schulman and Bob Yari 2006 Black Reel Awards Coach Carter Touchstone Pictures David Gale, Brian Robbins and Michael Tollin Four Brothers Columbia Pictures Lorenzo di Bonaventura Hitch Columbia Pictures James Lassiter, Will Smith and Teddy Zee Hustle & Flow Paramount Classics John Singleton and Stephanie Allain 2007 Dreamgirls DreamWorks Laurence Mark 2007 Black Reel Awards Akeelah and the Bee Warner Bros. Sid Ganis, Laurence Fishburne and Michael Romersa Inside Man Universal Pictures Brian Grazer and Jonathan Filley The Pursuit of Happyness Columbia Pictures James Lassiter, Todd Black and Steve Tisch Something New Focus Features Stephanie Allain 2008 Cadillac Records TriStar Pictures Andrew Lack and Sofia Sondervan 2008 Black Reel Awards Miracle at St. Anna Touchstone Pictures Spike Lee, Luigi Musini and Roberto Cicutto The Secret Life of Bees Fox Searchlight Pictures James Lassiter, Will Smith and Lauren Shuler Donner Seven Pounds Columbia Pictures James Lassiter, Will Smith and Steve Tisch Traitor Overture Films Don Cheadle, David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman
2010s Year Film Distributor Producer(s) Ref 2010 Precious Lionsgate Lee Daniels, Gary Magness and Sarah Siegel-Magness 2010 Black Reel Awards American Violet Samuel Goldwyn Films Bill Haney The Blind Side Warner Bros. Broderick Johnson, Andrew Kosove and Gil Netter Invictus Warner Bros. Clint Eastwood, Mace Neufeld and Robert Lorenz The Princess and the Frog Walt Disney Pictures Peter Del Vecho 2011 Night Catches Us Magnolia Pictures Jason Orans, Ron Simons and Sean Costello 2011 Black Reel Awards The Book of Eli Warner Bros. Pictures Denzel Washington, Joel Silver and Andrew Kosove Brooklyn's Finest Overture Films John Thompson, John Langley and Elle Cohn For Colored Girls Lionsgate Tyler Perry, Roger M. Bobb and Paul Hall Just Wright Fox Searchlight Pictures Debra Martin Chase, Queen Latifah and Shakim Compere 2012 The Help DreamWorks Chris Columbus, Brunson Green and Michael Baranthan 2012 Black Reel Awards Attack the Block Screen Gems Nira Park and James Wilson Jumping the Broom TriStar Pictures Elizabeth Hunter, Tracy Edmonds and T.D. Jakes Pariah Focus Features Nekisha Cooper Shame Fox Searchlight Pictures Emile Sherman and Iain Canning 2013 Beasts of the Southern Wild Fox Searchlight Pictures Josh Penn, Dan Javey and Michael Gottwald Black Reels Embraces Diverse Group of Films Black Reel Awards. 19 December 2012.Critics Wild About “Beasts!” Black Reel Awards. 8 February 2013. Django Unchained The Weinstein Company Reginald Hudlin, Stacey Shear and Pilar Savone Flight Paramount Pictures Robert Zemeckis, Steve Starkey and Laurie MacDonald The Intouchables The Weinstein Company Nicolas Duval-Adassovsky, Yann Zenou and Laurent Zeitoun Middle of Nowhere AAFRM Paul Garnes, Ava DuVernay and Howard Barish 2014 12 Years a Slave Fox Searchlight Pictures Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner The 14th Annual Black Reel Awards Nominations Black Reel Awards. 18 December 2013.“12 Years a Slave” Breaks Free Black Reel Awards. 14 February 2014. 42 Warner Bros. Pictures Thomas Tull The Butler The Weinstein Company Pamela Oas Williams, Laura Ziskin and Lee Daniels Fruitvale Station The Weinstein Company Nina Yang Bongiovi and Forest Whitaker Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom 20th Century Fox David M. Thompson and Anant Singh 2015 Selma Paramount Pictures Christian Colson, Oprah Winfrey and Dede Gardner 2015 Black Reel Awards Belle Fox Searchlight Pictures Damian Jones Beyond the Lights Relativity Media Stephanie Allain, Reggie Rock Bythewood and Ryan Kavanaugh Dear White People Lionsgate Effie Brown, Ann Le and Julia Lebedev Top Five Paramount Pictures Scott Rudin and Eli Bush 2016 Creed Warner Bros. Pictures Irwin Winkler, Robert Chartoff and Charles Winkler 2016 Black Reel Awards Beasts of No Nation Bleecker Street Amy Kaufman, Cary Joji Fukunaga and Daniela Taplin Lundberg Chi-Raq Roadside Attractions Spike Lee Concussion Columbia Pictures Ridley Scott, Giannina Facio and David Woltroff Straight Outta Compton Universal Pictures Ice Cube, Tomica Woods-Wright and Matt Alvarez 2017 Moonlight A24 Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner and Adele Romanski 2017 Black Reel Awards 13th Netflix Spencer Averick, Howard Barish and Ava DuVernay Fences Paramount Pictures Todd Black, Scott Rudin and Denzel Washington Loving Focus Features Nancy Buirski, Ged Doherty, Colin Firth, Sarah Green, Peter Saraf and Marc Turtletaub Manchester by the Sea Roadside Attractions Lauren Beck, Matt Damon, Chris Moore, Kimberly Steward and Kevin J. Walsh 2018 Get Out Universal Pictures Sean McKittrick, Jason Blum, Edward H. Hamm Jr. and Jordan Peele Get Out Dominates the Black Reel Awards Black Reel Awards. 13 December 2017.Get Out “Sinks” the Competition at The Black Reel Awards Black Reel Awards. 23 February 2018. Detroit Annapurna Pictures Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Matthew Budman, Megan Ellison and Colin Wilson Girls Trip Universal Pictures Malcolm D. Lee and Will Packer Marshall Open Road Films Reginald Hudlin, Jonathan Sanger and Paula Wagner Mudbound Netflix Carl Effenson, Sally Jo Effenson, Cassian Elwes, Charles King, Christopher Lemole, Kim Roth and Tim Zajaros 2019 Black Panther Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Kevin Feige BlacKkKlansman Focus Features Jason Blum, Spike Lee, Raymond Mansfield, Sean McKittrick, Jordan Peele, and Shaun Redick Green Book Universal Pictures Jim Burke, Brian Hayes Currie, Peter Farrelly, Nick Vallelonga, and Charles B. Wessler If Beale Street Could Talk Annapurna Pictures Megan Ellison, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Adele Romanski, Sara Murphy, and Barry Jenkins Widows 20th Century Fox Steve McQueen, Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, and Arnon Milchan
2020s