The African American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) announced its 16th Annual AAFCA Awards and 2025 Special Achievement honorees last week. The Special Achievement Awards ceremony takes place Sunday, Feb. 2, at the Los Angeles Athletic Club, and the Annual AAFCA Awards Wednesday, Feb. 19, at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel. The recipients include actors and artisans from 2025 Oscars contenders “Nickel Boys,” “The Piano Lesson,” and “The Six Triple Eight.”
The 2025 Special Achievement Awards honorees include: Lynn Whitfield, Legacy Award; Brandon Wilson and Ethan Herisse, Gen Next Award; “Nickel Boys,” Karen & Stanley Kramer Social Justice Award; and Amber Rasberry, Horizon Award. The 16th Annual AAFCA Awards honorees also include: Nicole Avant, Beacon Award; Malcolm Washington, Emerging Director Award; Ray Fisher, Breakout Performance Award; RaMell Ross, Spotlight Award.
“Our honorees set a high standard of discipline, talent, and hard work that inspires others to strive for greatness,” said AAFCA President and Co-Founder Gil Robertson in a press release. “In our present environment, it becomes more important than ever to acknowledge the examples that they’ve set. Their contributions reflect a level of excellence that propels our industry forward.”
Additional information and more detailed career achievements are listed online and can be viewed on the AAFCA website at aafca.com/aafca.awards. A full winners list for all the awards in the 16th annual voting will be officially released on Dec. 9.
The African American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) actively reviews and spotlights cinema at-large, with a particular emphasis on film and TV highlighting the Black experience, especially that produced, written and/or directed by persons from the African Diaspora. Members are also engaged in AAFCA’s advocacy work, which includes programming for students interested in film criticism and journalism in addition to general community outreach. AAFCA members are a geographically diverse cross-section of journalists, covering all genres of the cinematic arts while representing multiple mediums – including print, TV, radio broadcast and online. Collectively, they reach a worldwide audience in excess of 100 million.
