Hollywood (and the British) awards season has officially come to an end, and it was an eventful one. The season had some notable front-runners who were neck and neck at every award, taking turns to take home each of the major awards, from Best Director to Best Picture, Best Original Score to Best Cinematography. Every year, there is much discourse about whether the awards were fair and if the movies that won deserved those wins. This year is one of the rare occasions where the front-runners were equally beloved by critics and audiences, and, for the most part, people were satisfied with the final decisions.
Critics’ Choice Awards
Photo credit: JC Olivera/Variety via Getty Images
The 2026 season kicked off with the Critics’ Choice Awards on January 4, where Sinners led the race with 17 nominations. Ryan Coogler’s vampire horror starring Michael B. Jordan, Miles Caton, Wunmi Mosaku, Hailee Steinfield and Delroy Lindo very quickly became a cultural blackstone for Black people globally after its 2025 release. The movie took home 2 awards, Best Original Screenplay and Best Score, while Miles Caton won Best Young Actor and casting director Francine Maisler won Best Casting and Ensemble.
One Battle After Another was also a major contender at the Critics’ Choice and the entire award season. During this award, Teyana Taylor snagged her first nomination of the season for Best Supporting Actress alongside her co-star Chase Infiniti. Neither lady took home the trophy, but One Battle After Another still took home the awards for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay.
In the world of TV, Tramell Tillman received the recognition he deserved by taking home the award for Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his role as Milchick in Severance. Janelle James also had a well-deserved win in the Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series category for her hilarious work as Principal Ava in Abbott Elementary.
Interestingly, Cynthia Erivo didn’t receive any nominations for her role as Elphaba in Wicked: For Good. Some called this a snub while others thought there was no room for her in the nominee list. We’ll leave that decision to you.
Golden Globes
Once again, both Sinners and One Battle After Another were frontrunners at the Golden Globes, which were held on January 11. One Battle After Another snagged the Best Motion Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay awards while Sinners took home the awards for Best Original Score as well as Cinematic and Box Office Achievement. Unfortunately, Michael B. Jordan did not take home the award for Best Actor, but that disappointment was balanced by Teyana Taylor’s emotional Best Performance by a Female Actor win. In her speech, she dedicated the award to her “brown sisters and little brown girls watching tonight”, and encouraged Black women globally, saying, “Our softness is not a liability, our depth is not too much, our light does not need permission to shine. We belong in every room we walk into.”
There were also some stunning red carpet moments from stars like Shery Lee Ralph, Jayme Lawson, Teyana Taylor, Damson Idris, Justin Sylvester and many more.
The Grammys
After the Golden Globes, we stepped into the world of music for the Grammys on February 1. The award show was an amazing night for Black talent, with Kendrick Lamar stealing the show with 5 awards. His duet with SZA, Luther, took home the awards for Record of the Year and Best Melodic Rap Performance, while the Cali-inspired TV Off won Best Rap Song, and his album GNX won Best Rap Album. Cynthis Erivo got her flowers this time with Defying Gravity taking home the award for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance. Outside rap, Jon Batiste won his eighth Grammy for Best Americana Album with Big Money, and 8-year-old Aura V set the record for youngest solo Grammy winner, taking home the award for Best Children’s Music Album with Harmony. Shaboozey also picked up his first ever Grammy for Best Country Duo/Group Performance for his duet Amen with Jelly Roll. With this award, he became the first Black person to win in that category.
Cynthia wasn't the only Black woman to win big that night though. Olivia Dean took home the well-deserved Best New Artist trophy while Kehlani surprised no one by winning both Best R&B Performance and Best R&B Song for Folded. FKA Twigs fans also won big when the singer took home the award for Best Dance/Electronic album for Eusexua. Doechii proved that she is still one of the biggest up-and-coming names in female hip-hop by winning the award for Best Music Video for Anxiety. Leon Thomas, who has been a prominent name behind the scenes in R&B for years, was honoured with the awards for Best R&B album as well as Best Traditional R&B Performance.
Tyla’s Push 2 Start took home the award for Best African Music Performance, a category that many still consider controversial for lumping together all music by African artists into one category. Finally, despite this not being a movie award, Sinners still managed to snag a win in the Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media category.
BAFTAS
The BAFTAs weren’t just a great night for Black actors, but particularly for Nigerians. The award saw multiple Nigerian creatives taking home accolades, and we could not be more proud. One of the biggest wins of the night was the Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer, which went to the British-Nigerian filmmaking brothers, Wale Davies and Akinola Davies Jr. for their feature debut, My Father’s Shadow. Wunmi Mosaku, a Nigerian-born British actress, took home the award for best supporting actress for her role in Sinners.
Sinners also took home 3 awards, including for Original Screenplay and Original Score. The stop-motion animation Two Black Boys in Paradise based on the poem by Dean Atta took home the award for British Short Animation.
Despite these incredible wins for the community, celebrations were overshadowed by what is arguably the biggest controversy of the entire award season. Before the ceremony began, an official made an announcement to all attendees, informing them that John Davidson, a Tourette’s advocate and inspiration for the highly nominated movie, I Swear, was in the audience. The announcement warned attendees that they might hear or see some involuntary noises or movements from Dvaidson during the awards.
What no one expected was for a racial slur to be hurled at two black actors. While Sinners castmates Michael B Jordan and Delroy Lindo were presenting the first award of the night, Davidson shouted a very audible slur at the pair. Despite the event being aired on a two-hour delay, the BBC chose to air this moment uncensored. This was made even more controversial when, later during the broadcast, the cry of “Free Palestine” was censored from filmmaker Akinola Davies Jr.'s acceptance speech.
The BBC would later explain that the editors simply did not catch the slur and, in fact, edited out another slur from Davidson. Despite this, Black people were understandably upset at having to hear slurs on a global stage and being expected to receive them graciously.
The Oscars
Photo credit: JC Olivera/Variety via Getty Images
The biggest award show of the year closed out award season as usual. With the race being neck-and-neck the last few months, cinephiles waited with bated breath to see which of the front-running movies and actors would take home the final awards. In the end, it was an even split as One Battle After Another took home the Best Picture award while Michael B. Jordan snagged the Best Actor. The win was a huge one for Jordan, and his heartfelt speech, which he dedicated to his family and the cast and crew of Sinners, had the whole world smiling. Ryan Coolger also took home the Best Original Screenplay award for Sinners, crowning the movie the true award season darling to many, though One Battle After Another still took home the Best Adapted Screenplay trophy. Other awards Sinners took home include Best Original Score and Best Cinematography.
In the end, the 2026 award season was exciting, if somewhat predictable. Like in many past years, there were a handful of movies that dominated the season, but enough wild-cards to keep things exciting. It was a great season for Black-led movies and Black stories with African artists, filmmakers and stories getting more and more recognition. 2026 is already shaping up to be a great year for the arts, guaranteeing that next year’s award season will be another fun one.
Now we look forward to the AMVCAs and seeing which Nigerian talents take home an award!
