# Black Reel Award for Outstanding Independent Film

This article lists the winners and nominees for the Black Reel Award for Outstanding Independent Film. This award is presented to the directors of the film.

## Winners and nominees

Winners are listed first and highlighted in bold.

### 2000s

| Year | Film | Director(s) | Ref |
| 2002 |
| 2002 | The Visit | Jordan Walker-Pearlman | |
| 2002 | 30 Years to Life | Vanessa Middleton | |
| 2002 | Blue Hill Avenue | Craig Ross Jr. | |
| 2002 | Lift | DeMane Davis and Khari Streeter | |
| 2002 | Lumumba | Raoul Peck | |
| 2002 | One Week | Carl Seaton | |
| 2003 | | | |
| 2003 | Standing in the Shadows of Motown | Paul Justman | |
| 2003 | Biggie & Tupac | Nick Broomfield | |
| 2003 | Crazy as Hell | Eriq La Salle | |
| 2004 | | | |
| 2004 | Anne B. Real | Lisa France | |
| 2004 | All About You | Christine Swanson | |
| 2004 | G | Shonie De La Rosa and Larry Blackhorse Lowe | |
| 2005 | | | |
| 2005 | The Woodsman | Nicole Kassell | |
| 2005 | Motives | Craig Ross Jr. | |
| 2005 | Woman Thou Art Loosed | Michael Schultz | |
| 2006 | | | |
| 2006 | Constellation | Jordan Walker-Pearlman | |
| 2006 | Love Trap | Frank B. Goodin II | |
| 2006 | On the One | Charles Randolph-Wright | |
| 2006 | On the Verge of a Fever | John L'Ecuyer | |
| 2006 | Proud | Mary Pat Kelly | |
| 2007 | | | |
| 2007 | Traci Townsend | Craig Ross Jr. | |
| 2007 | No. 2 | Toa Fraser | |
| 2007 | Premium | Pete Chatmon | |
| 2008 | — | — | — |

### 2010s

| Year | Film | Director(s) |
| 2010 |
| 2010 | Mississippi Damned | Tina Mabry |
| 2010 | Sugar | Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck |
| 2010 | This is the Life | Ava DuVernay |
| 2011 | | |
| 2011 | Preacher's Kid | Stan Foster |
| 2011 | Black Venus | Abdellatif Kechiche |
| 2011 | Finding God in the City of Angels | Jennifer Jessum |
| 2011 | Kings of the Evening | Andrew P. Jones |
| 2011 | Toe to Toe | Emily Abt |
| 2012 | | |
| 2012 | My Last Day Without You | Stefan Schaefer |
| 2012 | Besouro | João Daniel Tikhomiroff |
| 2012 | Billy | Peter Burger |
| 2012 | Mamitas | Nicholas Ozeki |
| 2012 | The Tested | Russell Costanzo |
| 2013 | | |
| 2013 | LUV | Sheldon Candis |
| 2013 | Elza | Mariette Monpierre |
| 2013 | Four | Joshua Sanchez |
| 2013 | The Last Fall | Matthew A. Cherry |
| 2013 | Yelling to the Sky | Victoria Mahoney |
| 2014 | | |
| 2014 | Blue Caprice | Alexandre Moors |
| 2014 | Mother of George | Andrew Dosunmu |
| 2014 | Things Never Said | Charles Murray |
| 2014 | An Oversimplification of Her Beauty | Terence Nance |
| 2014 | Go for Sisters | John Sayles |
| 2015 | | |
| 2015 | The Retrieval | Chris Eska |
| 2015 | 1982 | Tommy Oliver |
| 2015 | Christmas Wedding Baby | Kiara C. Jones |
| 2015 | CRU | Alton Glass |
| 2015 | Una Vida: A Fable of Music and the Mind | Richie Adams |
| 2016 | | |
| 2016 | Tangerine | Sean S. Baker |
| 2016 | Blackbird | Patrik-Ian Polk |
| 2016 | Knucklehead | Ben Bowman |
| 2016 | The Man in 3B | Trey Haley |
| 2016 | Somewhere in the Middle | Lanre Olabisi |
| 2017 | | |
| 2017 | American Honey | Andrea Arnold |
| 2017 | How to Tell You’re a Douchebag | Tahir Jetter |
| 2017 | Hunter Gatherer | Joshua Locy |
| 2017 | The Land | Steven Caple Jr. |
| 2017 | Morris from America | Chad Hartigan |
| 2018 | | |
| 2018 | Crown Heights | Matt Ruskin |
| 2018 | Burning Sands | Gerard McMurray |
| 2018 | Gook | Justin Chon |
| 2018 | Imperial Dreams | Malik Vitthal |
| 2018 | The Incredible Jessica James | James C. Strouse |
| 2019 | | |
| 2019 | Jinn | Nijla Mumin |
| 2019 | A Boy. A Girl. A Dream. | Qasim Basir |
| 2019 | Roxanne Roxanne | Michael Larnell |
| 2019 | Monsters and Men | Reinaldo Marcus Green |
| 2019 | Yardie | Idris Elba |

### 2020s

| Year | Film | Director(s) |
| 2020 |
| 2020 | The Last Black Man in San Francisco | Joe Talbot |
| 2020 | Burning Cane | Phillip Youmans |
| 2020 | Clemency | Chinonye Chukwu |
| 2020 | Guava Island | Hiro Murai |
| 2020 | Luce | Julius Onah |
| 2021 | | |
| 2021 | The Forty-Year-Old Version | Radha Blank |
| 2021 | American Skin | Nate Parker |
| 2021 | Farewell Amor | Ekwa Msangi |
| 2021 | Miss Juneteenth | Channing Godfrey Peoples |
| 2021 | Sylvie's Love | Eugene Ashe |
| 2022 | | |
| 2022 | Zola | Janicza Bravo |
| 2022 | Concrete Cowboy | Ricky Staub |
| 2022 | Nine Days | Edson Oda |
| 2022 | Test Pattern | Shatara Michelle Ford |
| 2022 | The Water Man | David Oyelowo |
| 2023 | | |
| 2023 | The Inspection | Elegance Bratton |
| 2023 | Emergency | Carey Williams |
| 2023 | Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. | Adamma Ebo |
| 2023 | Master | Mariama Diallo |
| 2023 | Nanny | Nikyatu Jusu |
| 2024 | | |
| 2024 | A Thousand and One | A. V. Rockwell |
| 2024 | All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt | Raven Jackson |
| 2024 | Earth Mama | Savanah Leaf |
| 2024 | How I Learned to Fly | Simon Steuri |
| 2024 | Rye Lane | Raine Allen-Miller |
| 2025 | | |
| 2025 | We Grown Now | Minhal Baig |
| 2025 | Albany Road | Christine Swanson |
| 2025 | Blink Twice | Zoë Kravitz |
| 2025 | Hard Truths | Mike Leigh |
| 2025 | I Saw the TV Glow | Jane Schoenbrun |

## Multiple wins
### 2 wins

* Jordan Walker-Pearlman

## Multiple nominations
### 3 nominations

* Craig Ross Jr.

### 2 nominations

* Christine Swanson
* Jordan Walker-Pearlman