Selma has been named the African-American Film Critics Association’s top movie of the year. The first studio picture with Martin Luther King, Jr., as the protagonist won accolates from the AAFCA for its director Ava Duvernay, its lead actor David Oyelowo, and its music by John Legend.
Among the AAFCA’s other top-ten pics were Amma Asante’s Belle and Angelina Jolie’s Unbroken.
Gina Prince-Bythewood received the Best Screenplay prize for Beyond the Lights. Belle’s Gugu Mbatha-Raw (who also starred in Beyond the Lights), Black or White’s Octavia Spencer, and Dear White People’s Tessa Thompson picked up acting trophies.
AAFCA winners will be feted at a dinner on Wednesday, February 4, 2015, in Hollywood.
Here are the women honored by the AAFCA this year:
Best Picture — Selma
Best Actress — Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Belle (Fox Searchlight)
Best Supporting Actress — Octavia
Spencer, Black or White
Breakout Performance — Tessa Thompson, Dear White People
Best Director — Ava Duvernay, Selma (Paramount)
Best Screenplay — Gina Prince-Bythewood, Beyond the Lights
Best Ensemble — Get On Up (Universal)