Terence Blanchard, Stanley Nelson among 2022 AAFCA special honorees
Traci A. Curry, John Gibson, and Roxanne Avent-Taylor are also set receive special honors at the 13th annual AAFCA Awards.
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Recipients of the 2022 African American Film Critics Association special achievement honors have been announced. Musician and film composer Terence Blanchard and filmmaker Stanley Nelson are among the six honorees, according to Variety.
Also being honored are filmmaker Traci A. Curry, the Motion Picture Association’s VP of External and Multicultural Affairs John Gibson, producer and Hidden Empire Film Group Co-Founder Roxanne Avent-Taylor, and the Sony Motion Picture Group.
Blanchard, a six-time Grammy-winning and Academy Award-nominated composer and trumpet player will receive the Innovator Award. In 2021, he became the first Black composer of an opera at New York’s Metropolitan Opera House with Fire Shut Up in My Bones.
Nelson, along with Curry, will be getting the Stanley & Karen Kramer Award for Social Justice. Together, the two directed the Academy Award-nominated documentary feature, Attica, currently streaming on Showtime, Variety reports.
“Most of us have read about what happened at Attica Prison in 1971, but until you see the film ‘Attica,’ by Stanley Nelson and Traci A. Curry, you’re not aware of the real tragedy, inhumane treatment, violence and racism that occurred,” stated Karen Sharpe-Kramer, who oversees both the Stanley Kramer Foundation and Stanley Kramer Library. “It’s a heartbreaking social justice documentary. Impeccably researched, it makes a timely and riveting statement about prison reform in our country.”
Gibson, the Motion Picture Association’s VP of external and multicultural affairs, is being honored with the Salute to Excellence Award. Avent-Taylor will receive the Building Change Award. Sony Motion Picture Group will get the Cinema Vanguard Award.
“We are deeply honored and proud to recognize these outstanding individuals and groups for their work in the film industry and their commitment to diversity and inclusion in all areas of entertainment,” said Gil Robertson, president and CEO of AAFCA, per Variety.
The special honorees with receive their awards at the 13th annual AAFCA Awards on March 2. Held at the SLS Hotel in Los Angeles, the ceremony will be co-hosted by radio and TV host Charlamagne tha God and actress Alesha Reneé.
In addition to the five special honors, 13 other award winners have already been previously announced. Among the winners are Will Smith for Best Actor in King Richard, Jennifer Hudson for Best Actress in Respect, and Summer of Soul for Best Documentary.
The full list of winners is available on the AAFCA website.
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