# Black Reel Award for Outstanding Director

The Black Reel Award for Outstanding Director is an award presented annually by the Black Reel Awards (BRA). It is given in honor of a film director who has exhibited outstanding directing while working in the film industry.

## History

Director, Malcolm D. Lee took home the first award for The Best Man at the 1st Annual Black Reel Awards.
The Black Reel Awards for Outstanding Director and Black Reel Award for Outstanding Film has been closely linked throughout their history. Out of the 22 films that have been awarded Outstanding Film, 10 have also been awarded Outstanding Director.
Since its inception, the award has been given to 18 directors or directing teams. Ava DuVernay, Ryan Coogler, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Jordan Peele & Steve McQueen has received the most awards in this category with two. Spike Lee has been nominated eleven times, more than any other individual. At age 29, Ryan Coogler became the youngest director to win this award for his work on Creed. Thomas Carter holds the record for the oldest director to win at 52 for Coach Carter.
Brothers, Albert Hughes & Allen Hughes are the only directing team to share this award as they won for The Book of Eli at the 11th Annual Black Reel Awards. Gina Prince-Bythewood became the first woman to be nominated and win in this category for Love & Basketball.

## Winners and nominees

Winners are listed first and highlighted in bold.

### 2000s

| Year | Director | Film |
| 2000 |
| 2000 | Malcolm D. Lee | The Best Man |
| 2000 | Rick Famuyiwa | The Wood |
| 2000 | Spike Lee | Summer of Sam |
| 2001 | | |
| 2001 | Gina Prince-Bythewood | Love & Basketball |
| 2001 | Kwyn Bader | Loving Jezebel |
| 2001 | Albert Hughes and Allen Hughes | American Pimp |
| 2001 | Spike Lee | Bamboozled |
| 2001 | John Singleton | Shaft |
| 2002 | | |
| 2002 | Antoine Fuqua | Training Day |
| 2002 | Thomas Carter | Save the Last Dance |
| 2002 | Gary Hardwick | The Brothers |
| 2002 | Albert Hughes and Allen Hughes | From Hell |
| 2002 | John Singleton | Baby Boy |
| 2003 | | |
| 2003 | Denzel Washington | Antwone Fisher |
| 2003 | Malcolm D. Lee | Undercover Brother |
| 2003 | Spike Lee | 25th Hour |
| 2003 | Charles Stone III | Drumline |
| 2003 | Tim Story | Barbershop |
| 2004 | | |
| 2004 | F. Gary Gray | The Italian Job |
| 2004 | Carl Franklin | Out of Time |
| 2004 | Antoine Fuqua | Tears of the Sun |
| 2004 | Gary Hardwick | Deliver Us From Eva |
| 2004 | John Singleton | 2 Fast 2 Furious |
| 2005 | | |
| 2005 | Mario Van Peebles | BAADASSSSS! |
| 2005 | Ernest Dickerson | Never Die Alone |
| 2005 | Antoine Fuqua | Lighting in a Bottle |
| 2005 | Spike Lee | She Hate Me |
| 2005 | Charles Stone III | Mr. 3000 |
| 2006 | | |
| 2006 | Thomas Carter | Coach Carter |
| 2006 | Malcolm D. Lee | Roll Bounce |
| 2006 | John Singleton | Four Brothers |
| 2006 | Tim Story | Fantastic Four |
| 2007 | | |
| 2007 | Spike Lee | Inside Man |
| 2007 | Bryan Barber | Idlewild |
| 2007 | Sanaa Hamri | Something New |
| 2007 | Clark Johnson | The Sentinel |
| 2007 | Chris Robinson | ATL |
| 2008 | | |
| 2008 | Gina Prince-Bythewood | The Secret Life of Bees |
| 2008 | Malcolm D. Lee | Soul Men |
| 2008 | Spike Lee | Miracle at St. Anna |
| 2008 | Darnell Martin | Cadillac Records |
| 2008 | Gabriele Muccino | Seven Pounds |

### 2010s

| Year | Director | Film |
| 2010 |
| 2010 | Lee Daniels | Precious |
| 2010 | Bill Duke | Not Easily Broken |
| 2010 | Spike Lee | Passing Strange |
| 2010 | Scott Sanders | Black Dynamite |
| 2010 | George Tillman Jr. | Notorious |
| 2011 | | |
| 2011 | Albert Hughes and Allen Hughes | The Book of Eli |
| 2011 | Antoine Fuqua | Brooklyn's Finest |
| 2011 | Tanya Hamilton | Night Catches Us |
| 2011 | Sanaa Hamri | Just Wright |
| 2011 | Tyler Perry | For Colored Girls |
| 2012 | | |
| 2012 | Steve McQueen | Shame |
| 2012 | Salim Akil | Jumping the Broom |
| 2012 | Qasim Basir | Mooz-lum |
| 2012 | Ava DuVernay | I Will Follow |
| 2012 | Dee Rees | Pariah |
| 2013 | | |
| 2013 | Ava DuVernay | Middle of Nowhere |
| 2013 | Salim Akil | Sparkle |
| 2013 | Spike Lee | Red Hook Summer |
| 2013 | Peter Ramsey | Rise of the Guardians |
| 2013 | Tim Story | Think Like a Man |
| 2014 | | |
| 2014 | Steve McQueen | 12 Years a Slave |
| 2014 | Ryan Coogler | Fruitvale Station |
| 2014 | Lee Daniels | The Butler |
| 2014 | Malcolm D. Lee | The Best Man Holiday |
| 2014 | George Tillman Jr. | The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete |
| 2015 | | |
| 2015 | Ava DuVernay | Selma |
| 2015 | Amma Asante | Belle |
| 2015 | Gina Prince-Bythewood | Beyond the Lights |
| 2015 | Chris Rock | Top Five |
| 2015 | Justin Simien | Dear White People |
| 2016 | | |
| 2016 | Ryan Coogler | Creed |
| 2016 | Rick Famuyiwa | Dope |
| 2016 | Antoine Fuqua | Southpaw |
| 2016 | F. Gary Gray | Straight Outta Compton |
| 2016 | Spike Lee | Chi-Raq |
| 2017 | | |
| 2017 | Barry Jenkins | Moonlight |
| 2017 | Don Cheadle | Miles Ahead |
| 2017 | Antoine Fuqua | The Magnificent Seven |
| 2017 | Nate Parker | The Birth of a Nation |
| 2017 | Denzel Washington | Fences |
| 2018 | | |
| 2018 | Jordan Peele | Get Out |
| 2018 | Maggie Betts | Novitiate |
| 2018 | Reginald Hudlin | Marshall |
| 2018 | Malcolm D. Lee | Girls Trip |
| 2018 | Dee Rees | Mudbound |
| 2019 | | |
| 2019 | Ryan Coogler | Black Panther |
| 2019 | Barry Jenkins | If Beale Street Could Talk |
| 2019 | Steve McQueen | Widows |
| 2019 | Spike Lee | BlacKkKlansman |
| 2019 | Boots Riley | Sorry to Bother You |

### 2020s

| Year | Director | Film |
| 2020 |
| 2020 | Jordan Peele | Us |
| 2020 | Mati Diop | Atlantics |
| 2020 | Kasi Lemmons | Harriet |
| 2020 | Melina Matsoukas | Queen & Slim |
| 2020 | Julius Onah | Luce |
| 2021 | | |
| 2021 | Regina King | One Night in Miami... |
| 2021 | Radha Blank | The Forty-Year-Old Version |
| 2021 | Shaka King | Judas and the Black Messiah |
| 2021 | Spike Lee | Da 5 Bloods |
| 2021 | Channing Godfrey Peoples | Miss Juneteenth |
| 2022 | | |
| 2022 | Jeymes Samuel | The Harder They Fall |
| 2022 | Halle Berry | Bruised |
| 2022 | Nia DaCosta | Candyman |
| 2022 | Reinaldo Marcus Green | King Richard |
| 2022 | Rebecca Hall | Passing |
| 2023 | | |
| 2023 | Gina Prince-Bythewood | The Woman King |
| 2023 | Elegance Bratton | The Inspection |
| 2023 | Chinonye Chukwu | Till |
| 2023 | Ryan Coogler | Black Panther: Wakanda Forever |
| 2023 | Jordan Peele | Nope |
| 2024 | | |
| 2024 | Cord Jefferson | American Fiction |
| 2024 | Blitz the Ambassador | The Color Purple |
| 2024 | Ava DuVernay | Origin |
| 2024 | Michael B. Jordan | Creed III |
| 2024 | A. V. Rockwell | A Thousand and One |
| 2025 | | |
| 2025 | RaMell Ross | Nickel Boys |
| 2025 | Titus Kaphar | Exhibiting Forgiveness |
| 2025 | Zoë Kravitz | Blink Twice |
| 2025 | Steve McQueen | Blitz |
| 2025 | Malcolm Washington | The Piano Lesson |

## Multiple nominations and wins
### Multiple wins
#### 3 wins

* Gina Prince-Bythewood

#### 2 wins

* Ryan Coogler
* Ava DuVernay
* Steve McQueen
* Jordan Peele

### Multiple Nominees
## Age superlatives

| Record | Director | Film | Age (in years) |
| Oldest winner | Thomas Carter | Coach Carter | 52 |
| Oldest nominee | Bill Duke | Not Easily Broken | 66 |
| Youngest winner | Ryan Coogler | Creed | 29 |
| Youngest nominee | Rick Famuyiwa | The Wood | 26 |

## Diversity of Nominees
### Female nominees/winners

Nineteen female directors have been nominated for a total twenty-six times in this category, and three have won the award.
* 2001 - Gina Prince-Bythewood for Love & Basketball‡
* 2007 - Sanaa Hamri for Something New
* 2008 - Gina Prince-Bythewood for The Secret Life of Bees†
* 2008 - Darnell Martin for Cadillac Records‡
* 2011 - Tanya Hamilton for Night Catches Us‡
* 2011 - Sanaa Hamri for Just Wright†
* 2012 - Ava DuVernay for I Will Follow
* 2012 - Dee Rees for Pariah†
* 2013 - Ava DuVernay for Middle of Nowhere†
* 2015 - Ava DuVernay for Selma‡
* 2015 - Amma Asante for Belle†
* 2015 - Gina Prince-Bythewood for Beyond the Lights†
* 2018 - Maggie Betts for Novitiate
* 2018 - Dee Rees for Mudbound †
* 2020 - Mati Diop for Atlantics
* 2020 - Kasi Lemmons for Harriet
* 2020 - Melina Matsoukas for Queen & Slim †
* 2021 - Regina King for One Night in Miami... †
* 2021 - Radha Blank for The Forty-Year-Old Version
* 2021 - Channing Godfrey Peoples for Miss Juneteenth
* 2022 - Halle Berry for Bruised
* 2022 - Nia DaCosta for Candyman
* 2022 - Rebecca Hall for Passing †
* 2023 - Gina Prince-Bythewood for The Woman King
* 2023 - Chinonye Chukwu for Till
* 2024 - Ava DuVernay for Origin †
* 2024 - A. V. Rockwell for A Thousand and One
* 2025 - Zoë Kravitz for Blink Twice

### Documentary nominees/winners

Three directors of a documentary film have been nominated in this category.
* 2001 - Albert Hughes & Allen Hughes for American Pimp
* 2005 - Antoine Fuqua for Lightning in a Bottle

### Animated nominees/winners

One director of an animated film has been nominated in this category.
* 2013 - Peter Ramsey for Rise of the Guardians

### Non-English language nominees/winners

One director of a non-English film has been nominated in this category.
* 2020 - Mati Diop for Atlantics, Wolof & French
bold — Indicates winner
† — Film nominated for Outstanding Film
‡ — Film won for Outstanding Film