2023 NAACP Image Awards: See Which Top Films Earned Huge Honors at This Year’s Ceremony
The 2023 NAACP Image Awards is just one month away, and it’s slated to be a celebration you won’t want to miss. Slated to take place live for the first time in three years on Saturday, February 25th, 2023, at 8:00 PM ET, the 54th annual event will honor some of the biggest and brightest stars in Black Hollywood and the movies and television shows that had us glued to our seats. Ahead of this year’s show, see which top films earned one of the most sought honors, “Outstanding Motion Picture.”
‘A Jazzman’s Blues’ / Netflix
Tyler Perry’s ‘A Jazzman’s Blues’ tells the story of a “tale of forbidden love and family drama unravels 40 years of secrets and lies in the deep south during an unsolved murder investigation.” The film features rising actor Joshua Boone and Zimbabwe-born actress and singer Solea Pfeiffer as star-crossed lovers Bayou and Leanne. The movie also stars How to Get Away with Murder’s Amirah Van, E. Roger Mitchell, Daphne Maxwell Reid, and many more.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever / Marvel Studios
Black Panther returns with its highly anticipated sequel Wakanda Forever. Many of the original cast returns, including Oscars-nominated actress Angela Bassett, Letitia Wright, Lupita Nyong’o, and Danai Gurira, with a special tribute to the forever Black Panther and later actor Chadwick Boseman. The movie leads this year’s show with 12 nominations across the motion picture categories.
Emancipation / Apple TV
Following a captivating performance as Richard Williams, the father and coach of famed tennis players Venus and Serena Williams, Will Smith returns to film in the Antoine Fuqua-directed dramatic historical action thriller Emancipation.
Smith’s character Whipped Peter is based on the real-life story of Peter, an escaped enslaved man who became known as the subject of photographs due to the scarring on his back from continuous lashings.
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The Woman King / Sony Pictures Releasing
The Woman King features an ensemble majority female cast, including Academy Award-winner Viola Davis, Thuso Mbedu, Lashana Lynch, Sheila Atim, Hero Fiennes Tiffin, and John Boyega. The historical action drama follows the story of an all-female warrior unit that protected the West African kingdom of Dahomey during the 17th to 19th centuries. Davis is General Nanisca, who trains the next generation of fighters and liberates Dahomean women abducted by slavers from the Oyo Empire, triggering a massive war. The movie was directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood and written by Dana Stevens.
TILL / United Artists Releasing / Orion Pictures
Actress Danielle Deadwyler is Mamie Elizabeth Till-Mobley in Chinonye Chukwu’s biographical drama Till, a mother dealing with the brutal murder of her 14-year-old son Emmett who used her unspeakable tragedy to help change history. The film also stars Whoopi Goldberg, Jalyn Hall, Frankie Faison, Jayme Lawson, and tons more.
Watch the NAACP Image Awards live on Saturday, February 25, 2023, at 8:00 pm ET/PT on BET.
