‘Black Panther’ will be honored with the Hollywood Film Award at a ceremony held on November 4. That same night, ‘The Incredibles 2’ will earn the Hollywood Animation Award. This honor, which originated in 1997, is widely considered the kick-off to awards season for Hollywood and is meant for “recognizing excellence in the art of cinema in all disciplines of filmmaking.” ‘Black Panther’ will also be recognized for Production Design for Hannah Beachler.
Nicole Kidman will be honored with the Career Achievement Award, while Glenn Close will receive the Hollywood Actress Award, and Hugh Jackman, will be granted the Hollywood Actor Award. The Director Award goes to Damien Chazelle (‘First Man’), with Timothée Chalamet (‘Beautiful Boy’) earning the Supporting Actor Award. The Ensemble Award goes to ‘Green Book’, while Breakout Ensemble Award goes to ‘Crazy Rich Asians’. Amandla Stenberg (‘The Hate U Give’) will be given the Breakout Performance Actress Award, while the Breakout Performance Actor Award goes to John David Washington (‘BlacKkKlansman’). Felix Van Groeningen (‘Beautiful Boy’) will collect the Breakthrough Director Award, and Yalitza Aparicio (‘Roma’) will receive the New Hollywood Award.
In addition, Peter Farrelly, Nick Vallelonga, and Brian Hayes Currie will receive the Screenwriter Award for ‘Green Book’, and ‘Believer’ will receive the Documentary Award. ‘First Man’ will be honored for Film Composer for Justin Hurwitz, and Editor for Tom Cross. The Visual Effects award will go to Dan Deleeuw, Kelly Port, Russel Earl, Dan Sudick for ‘Avengers: Infinity War’. Ironically, the award for Sound will go to ‘A Quiet Place’ and its team of Erik Aadahl, Ethan Van der Ryn, and Brandon Proctor.
Other honorees include Matthew Libatique for ‘A Star is Born’ for Cinematography, Sandy Powell for ‘The Favourite’ for Costume Design, and Jenny Schircore, Sarah Kelly, and Hannah Edwards, for Makeup & Hair Design for ‘Mary Queen of Scots’.
As you can see, the majority of awards went to fairly obvious choices– ‘First Man’, ‘Beautiful Boy’, ‘Green Book’, ‘BlacKkKlansman’, etc. Most are weighty dramas that are like catnip to awards voters. ‘Black Panther’ sticks out like a sore thumb as the only commercial popcorn movie on the list, and yet it took the top honor!
Though winning one award doesn’t indicate that it will win many more, but it’s a step in the right direction and in the coming months, ‘Black Panther’ may prove to be an unlikely upset to the more serious films that normally receive honors.
The Hollywood Film Awards will be handed out on Sunday, November 4 at the Beverly Hilton.
