| 23rd Black Reel Awards | |
|---|---|
| Date | February 6, 2023 (Film) January 16, 2024 (Television) |
| Highlights | |
| Most awards | The Woman King (6) |
| Most nominations | Black Panther: Wakanda Forever / The Woman King (14) |
| Outstanding Film | The Woman King |
The 23rd Annual Black Reel Awards ceremony, presented by the Foundation for the Augmentation of African-Americans in Film (FAAAF) and honoring the best films of 2022, took place on February 6, 2023, and streamed on blackreelawards.com at 5:00 p.m. PST / 8:00 p.m. EST.[1] During the ceremony, FAAAF presented the Black Reel Awards in 24 categories. The film nominations were announced on December 15, 2022.[2][3][4]
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and The Woman King led the film nominations with fourteen each, with the latter winning a total of six awards, the most wins by any film, including Outstanding Film.[1]
With her third win for Outstanding Costume Design for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Ruth E. Carter became the most decorated technical award winner in Black Reel Awards history.[1] Actress Angela Bassett also made history, becoming the first woman ever to win an acting and honorary award in the same year; she won for her work in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and also received the prestigious "Sidney Poitier Trailblazer Award", recognizing her career of acting excellence.[1]
The 7th Annual Black Reel Awards for Television nominations were announced on June 15, 2023; the performance categories were merged into gender neutral ones while five technical categories were added. The miniseries The Best Man: The Final Chapters received 18 nominations, becoming the most nominated program in a single year in the history of the awards.[5] The ceremony was initially scheduled for August 14, but has been delayed and rescheduled. This temporary change is due to the ongoing WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes; the ceremony will now be on January 13, 2024, combining both the film and television ceremonies.[6]
Representatives for the Foundation for the Augmentation of African-Americans in Film (FAAAF) explained that temporarily rescheduling the summer celebration "gives the opportunity for the resolution of the strikes to occur and allow for the presence and participation of all the honorees".[6]
"The best part about recognizing excellence in anything is giving those who have done the work the opportunity to shine," stated Tim Gordon, the Black Reel Awards' founder and executive director. "We felt announcing the winners on our site or in a press release would not appropriately honor the fantastic work of those in our entertainment community," he concluded.[6]