"Life Itself," the acclaimed documentary directed by Steve James about iconic film critic Roger Ebert, will receive the award for Best Documentary at the African American Film Critics Association's awards gala on Wednesday, February 4th, at the Taglyan Complex in Hollywood, California.
The Roger Ebert Award will be presented to Susan King of The Los Angeles Times. Last year's recipient was Justin Chang, the Chief Film Critic of Variety.
"Selma," director Ava DuVernay's acclaimed drama about Martin Luther King, Jr., earned accolades for Best Actor (David Oyelowo), Best Director and Best Song ("Glory" by John Legend and Common).
Gugu Mbatha-Raw won Best Actress for "Beyond the Lights," Octavia Spencer won Best Supporting Actress for "Black or White" and Tyler Perry ("Gone Girl") tied with J.K. Simmons ("Whiplash") for Best Supporting Actor. "Beyond the Lights" also scored a Best Screenplay prize for its writer/director, Gina Prince-Bythewood.
Abderrahmane Sissako's Oscar-nominated "Timbuktu" won the Best World Cinema prize, Tessa Thompson snagged Best Breakout Performance for Justin Simien's "Dear White People," which also won Best Independent Film.
Tate Taylor's James Brown biopic "Get On Up" won Best Ensemble while Graham Annable and Anthony Stacchi's stop-motion effort "The Boxtrolls" won Best Animated film.
"Selma" tops AAFCA's top ten films of the year, followed by "The Imitation Game," "The Theory of Everything," "Birdman," "Belle," "Top Five," "Unbroken," "Dear White People," "Get On Up" and "Black or White."
For more information on the ceremony, visit the official AFFCA site.
