Black Reel Awards of 2015

15th Black Reel Awards
Date	February 19, 2015
Location	Washington, D.C.

The 2015 Black Reel Awards, which annually recognize and celebrate the achievements of black people in feature, independent and television films, were announced on Thursday, February 19, 2015. Dear White People and Selma lead all films with ten nominations apiece.

Selma was the big winner of the night winning eight awards including Outstanding Picture, Director (Ava DuVernay) and Actor (David Oyelowo). The Trip to Bountiful and Gun Hill took home three awards followed by Dear White People with two wins.

Winners and nominees

Winners are listed first and highlighted in bold.

Best Film	Best Director
Selma Belle Beyond the Lights Dear White People Top Five	Ava DuVernay – Selma Amma Asante – Belle Gina Prince-Bythewood – Beyond the Lights Chris Rock – Top Five Justin Simien – Dear White People
Best Actor	Best Actress
David Oyelowo – Selma Chadwick Boseman – Get On Up Nate Parker – Beyond the Lights Chris Rock – Top Five Denzel Washington – The Equalizer	Gugu Mbatha-Raw – Belle Rosario Dawson – Top Five Gugu Mbatha-Raw – Beyond the Lights Tessa Thompson – Dear White People Quvenzhané Wallis – Annie
Best Supporting Actor	Best Supporting Actress
Wendell Pierce – Selma Nelsan Ellis – Get On Up David Oyelowo – A Most Violent Year Tyler Perry – Gone Girl Michael K. Williams – The Gambler	Carmen Ejogo – Selma Viola Davis – The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby Teyonah Parris – Dear White People Zoe Saldana – Guardians of the Galaxy Octavia Spencer – Snowpiercer
Best Breakthrough Performance, Male	Best Breakthrough Performance, Female
Tyler James Williams – Dear White People Brandon Bell – Dear White People David Gyasi – Interstellar Andre Holland – Selma Stephan James – Selma	Teyonah Parris – Dear White People Jillian Estell – Black or White Patina Miller – The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 Amber Stevens – 22 Jump Street Kuoth Wiel – The Good Lie
Best Ensemble (Awarded to Casting Directors)	Best Screenplay, Adapted or Original
Aisha Coley – Selma Kerry Barden and Paul Schnee – Get On Up Kim Coleman – Dear White People Victoria Thomas – Top Five Toby Whale – Belle	Chris Rock – Top Five Gina Prince-Bythewood – Beyond the Lights John Ridley – Jimi: All Is by My Side Misan Sagay – Belle Justin Simien – Dear White People
Best Feature Documentary	Best Voice Performance
Anita: Speaking Truth to the Power – Freida Lee Mock I Am Ali – Clare Lewins Keep On Keepin' On – Alan Hicks Nas: Time Is Illmatic – One9 Virunga – Orlando von Einsiedel	Morgan Freeman – The Lego Movie Vin Diesel – Guardians of the Galaxy Maya Rudolph – Big Hero 6 Zoe Saldana – The Book of Life Damon Wayans Jr. – Big Hero 6
Best Independent Feature	Best Independent Documentary
The Retrieval – Chris Eska 1982 – Tommy Oliver Christmas Wedding Baby – Kiara C. Jones CRU – Alton Glass Una Vida: A Fable of Music and the Mind – Richie Adams	25 to Life – Mike Brown Evolution of a Criminal – Darius Clark Monroe Oscar Micheaux: The Czar of Black Hollywood – Bayer Mack Through a Lens Darkly: Black Photographers and the Emergence of a People – Thomas Allen Harris
Best Independent Short	Best Foreign Film
#AmeriCan – Nate Parker Muted – Rachel Goldberg The Voodoo – Steven Alexander	Fishing Without Nets (Kenya) – Cutter Hodierne Difret (Ethiopia) – Zeresenay Mehari The Double! (U.K.) – Richard Ayoade Freedom Road (South Africa) – Shane Vermooten Half of a Yellow Sun (Nigeria) – Biyi Bandele
Best Original or Adapted Song	Outstanding Original Score
"Glory" from Selma – Performed by John Legend and Common "It Ain't Easy" from Top Five – Performed by Questlove and Eliza Colby "It's On Again" from The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – Performed by Alicia Keys and Kendrick Lamar "Grateful" from Beyond the Lights – Performed by Rita Ora "What is Love" from Rio 2 – Performed by Janelle Monáe	Jason Moran – Selma Terence Blanchard – Black or White Kathryn Bostic – Dear White People Danny Bramson and Waddy Wachtel – Jimi: All Is by My Side Mark Isham – Beyond the Lights
Best Television Miniseries or Movie	Outstanding Director in a Television Miniseries or Movie
The Trip to Bountiful (Lifetime) – Bill Haber and Jeff Hayes A Day Late and a Dollar Short (Lifetime) – Jeffrey M. Hayes Gun Hill (BET) – Reggie Rock Bythewood Rosemary's Baby (NBC) – Zoe Saldana, Tom Patricia and Robert Bernacchi Seasons of Love (Lifetime) – Joshua A. Green and Yaron Schwartzman	Reggie Rock Bythewood – Gun Hill (BET) Sharon Brathwaite-Sanders and Peres Owino – Seasons of Love (Lifetime) Shernold Edwards – A Day Late and a Dollar Short (Lifetime) Dayna Lynne North – An En Vogue Christmas (Lifetime) Kimberly Walker – Comeback Dad (UP)
Best Actor in a TV Movie or Limited Series	Best Actress in a TV Movie or Limited Series
Larenz Tate – Gun Hill (BET) Charles S. Dutton – Comeback Dad (UP) David Alan Grier – An En Vogue Christmas (Lifetime) Ving Rhames – A Day Late and a Dollar Short (Lifetime) Keith Robinson – Lyfe's Journey (UP)	Cicely Tyson – The Trip to Bountiful (Lifetime) Whoopi Goldberg – A Day Late and a Dollar Short (Lifetime) Imani Hakim – The Gabby Douglas Story (Lifetime) LeToya Luckett – Seasons of Love (Lifetime) Zoe Saldana – Rosemary's Baby (NBC)
Best Supporting Actor in a TV Movie or Limited Series	Best Supporting Actress in a TV Movie or Limited Series
Blair Underwood – The Trip to Bountiful (Lifetime) Richard T. Jones – Lyfe's Journey (UP) Harry Lennix – The Fright Night Files (TVOne) Mekhi Phifer – A Day Late and a Dollar Short (Lifetime) Bokeem Woodbine – The Fright Night Files (TVOne)	Anika Noni Rose – A Day Late and a Dollar Short (Lifetime) Tichina Arnold – A Day Late and a Dollar Short (Lifetime) Kimberly Elise – A Day Late and a Dollar Short (Lifetime) Aisha Hinds – Gun Hill (BET) Vanessa L. Williams – The Trip to Bountiful (Lifetime)
Outstanding Screenplay in a TV Movie or Limited Series	Best Television Documentary or Special
Reggie Rock Bythewood – Gun Hill (BET) Stan Foster – My Other Mother (UP) Princess Monique – Seasons of Love (Lifetime) Russ Parr and R.L. Scott – The Fright Night Files (TVOne) Ryan Richmond – Lyfe's Journey (UP)	Mr. Dynamite: The Rise of James Brown (HBO) – Alex Gibney Finding the Funk (VH1) – Nelson George On the Run Tour: Beyoncé and Jay-Z (HBO) – Jonas Åkerlund The Tanning of America: One Nation Under Hip-Hop (VH1) – Billy Corben Terror at the Mall (HBO) – Dan Reed