Amazon MGM Studios’ Nickel Boys won a leading six awards Monday at the Black Reel Awards, including the group’s marquee Outstanding Film Award and Outstanding Director for RaMell Ross.
The awards, celebrating their 25th edition, honors the year’s best in Black cinematic excellence, were handed out Monday in a virtual ceremony.
Nickel Boys, adapted from Colson Whitehead’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel and nominated for the Best Picture and Adapted Screenplay Oscars, also won tonight for Outstanding Screenplay, Outstanding Emerging Director, Outstanding First Screenplay and Outstanding Cinematography.
Netflix’s The Piano Lesson won four awards including Outstanding Supporting Performance for Danielle Deadwyler, Outstanding Ensemble, Outstanding Hairstyling & Makeup and Outstanding Production Design.
Other notable winners tonight included Hard Truths star Marianne Jean-Baptiste, who won the gender-neutral Outstanding Lead Performance award. The Mike Leigh film also won Outstanding International Film.
Here’s the full list of 2025 winners:
OUTSTANDING FILM
Nickel Boys
Joslyn Barnes, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner & David Levin, producers
OUTSTANDING LEAD PERFORMANCE
Marianne Jean-Baptiste
Hard Truths
OUTSTANDING DIRECTOR
RaMell Ross
Nickel Boys
OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING PERFORMANCE
Danielle Deadwyler
The Piano Lesson
OUTSTANDING SCREENPLAY
Nickel Boys
RaMell Ross & Joslyn Barnes
OUTSTANDING DOCUMENTARY
Luther: Never Too Much
Dawn Porter, director
OUTSTANDING INTERNATIONAL FILM
Hard Truths
United Kingdom
OUTSTANDING ENSEMBLE
The Piano Lesson
Lindsay Graham & Mary Vernieu, casting directors
OUTSTANDING VOICE PERFORMANCE
Lupita Nyong’o
The Wild Robot
OUTSTANDING INDEPENDENT FILM
We Grown Now
Minhal Baig, director
OUTSTANDING SHORT FILM
Chocolate With Sprinkles
Huriyyah Muhammad, director
OUTSTANDING SCORE
The Wild Robot
Kris Bowers, composer
OUTSTANDING ORIGINAL SONG
“The Journey” from The Six Triple Eight
H.E.R., performer; Diane Warren, writer
OUTSTANDING SOUNDTRACK
Wicked
OUTSTANDING EMERGING DIRECTOR
RaMell Ross
Nickel Boys
OUTSTANDING BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE
Clarence Maclin
Sing Sing
OUTSTANDING FIRST SCREENPLAY
Nickel Boys
RaMell Ross
OUTSTANDING CINEMATOGRAPHY
Nickel Boys
Jomo Fray, cinematographer
OUTSTANDING COSTUME DESIGN
Wicked
Paul Tazewell, costume designer
OUTSTANDING EDITING
We Grown Now
Stephanie Filo, editor
OUTSTANDING HAIRSTYLING & MAKEUP
The Piano Lesson
Andrea ‘Mona’ Bowman & Para Shardé Malden
OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION DESIGN
The Piano Lesson
David J. Bomba (production designer), Chardae Adams (art director) & Patrick Cassidy (set decorator)
