By Randi Locke, Northend Agent’s
The constant moving line that black movies must cross for recognition
What do you think when you hear that someone had ordered seventeen wings, but the restaurant only gave them four? One would assume that either someone ate or dropped the other thirteen. Until your waitress says that in spite of the restaurant having plenty of chicken wings, they were only willing to give them four. Now in this scenario this “restaurant “ is the Critics choice awards, the wings are awards, and the customer, none other than the cast and crew of the box office hit Sinners. The Sinners cast was up for 17 awards which were: Best Actor, Best Director, Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress, Best Casting Ensemble, Best Cinematography, Best Score, Best Costume Designer, Best Original Screenplay,Best Editing ,Best Young Actor/Actress, Best Hair & Makeup, Best Stunt Design, Best Production Design, Best Sound, Best Song, and Best Visual effects. At the end of the night Sinners walked away with Best Casting Ensemble, Best Young Actor, Best Score, and Best Original Screenplay.
Those who are unaware of what Sinners accomplished may find this acceptable but the film was not only a major box office achievement but created many firsts in the film industry. For instance the film was the first to combine IMAX 70 MM and Ultra Panavision to shoot the entire film. Which resulted in such memorable scenes such as the veil dropping between time while Miles Canton’s character Sammy sang. The film also became the highest grossing original film of the 2020’s. Grossing at $368,289,632 million worldwide. Surpassing its $100 million dollar budget. The director and writer Ryan Coogler struck a historic deal with Warner Brothers. According to CNBC, Coogler will be the sole owner of the film’s rights after 25 years. This will include full control over merchandise, streaming rights, and television broadcasts. This deal is a rarity for major directors and because of the film’s great success soon others will follow.
Yet despite having to break boundaries and deliver emotionally devastating performances, the awards won don’t match up. In spite of breaking records and changing the film industry, Coogler has only won best director three times for the film so far despite being nominated at least 15 times for the category. This is because in spite of the film’s success, it has received more than its fair share of skepticism. One of the most notable being from Variety. Despite grossing $61 million their first weekend Variety said that “It’s a great result for an original R-Rated horror film that takes place in the 1930’s, yet the Warner Bros release has an eye popping $90 million price tag before global marketing expenses, so profitability remains a ways away.” Unfortunately even when black films break barriers the line gets pushed even further. Here are three original black films that did not get their just due.
Daughters of the dust (1990)
Though the film broke barriers by being the very first nationally distributed full length film by an African American according to The Medium; it was only nominated for six awards. One of which was the Boston Society of Film Critics “Best rediscovery award” in 2013. The movie took sixteen years for director Julie Dash to complete and was one of the first mainstream films to center the Gullah People of South Carolina and Georgia. The film showcased several generations of black women during the turn of the 20th century. Though the film only grossed $1,689,776 worldwide according to Box Office Mojo, its impact on black Cinema was lasting. The film was a notable reference in Beyoncé’s 2016 visual album Lemonade.
If Beale Street Could Talk (2018)
This film did what few indie films accomplished and broke into mainstream box offices. Based on the novel by James Baldwin, this movie is one of the few honest portrayals of black love . Balancing black joy with the pain of systemic racism. This film won Regina King the best supporting actress Oscar. Making her the eighth black woman to win the award. Though this film grossed $20,596,567 dollars, surpassing its $12 million dollar budget and won 108 awards out of the 194 nominations according to IMDB; to me it was not acknowledged for all the critical success it received for being an indie film.
American Fiction (2023)
The irony of this film is that it was created to solely address the question: When it comes to black cinema, who’s stories deserve to be shared versus the ones that are uplifted? Yet the film only won 64 awards out of its 174 nominations. Which included an Oscar win for Best Adapted Screenplay. This is because despite being satire, critics found that the film is “a stretch to call daring or pioneering” according to NPR. This film is yet another example of the line of success for black films being pushed further. Because though this idea isn’t “pioneering “, it not only is a rare portrayal of the modern black bourgeois, it shines a direct light on the hypocrisy in the publishing and film industry. The film grossed $22,483,370 dollars surpassing its $10,000,000 budget according to the LA times.
