The Stories We Carried: Black Women, First Moments, and Culture Shifting Work Lead the 2026 NAACP Image Awards Nominees

 

The 2026 nominees for the NAACP Image Awards feel less like a list and more like a reflection. Of where we have been. Of what we survived. Of what we dared to imagine anyway.

This year’s nominations honor work that did more than entertain. They stayed with us. Sat with us. Gave language to feelings we had not yet named. At the center of it all are Black women, first time nominees stepping into their moment, and projects that shifted culture quietly and boldly at the same time.

Black Women at the Center, Not the Margins

Across film, television, and music, Black women showed up with range, restraint, and emotional precision. These performances were not about spectacle. They were about truth. Women navigating love, grief, ambition, softness, faith, and contradiction with a depth that did not ask for permission.

This year’s nominees remind us that Black women do not need to be explained to be understood. Their work speaks clearly. Sometimes loudly. Sometimes in a whisper. Always with intention.

First Time Nominees, Long Time Impact

Several nominees are receiving their first NAACP Image Award recognition, even though their work has been resonating for years. These are the artists whose growth has been happening in plain sight. The ones audiences have been rooting for quietly, waiting for the moment the industry caught up.

Their nominations feel like arrival, yes, but also affirmation. Proof that consistency, risk taking, and staying rooted in purpose still matter.

Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture

Cynthia Erivo – Wicked: For Good (Universal Pictures)

Danielle Deadwyler – 40 Acres (Magnolia Pictures)

Keke Palmer – One of Them Days (Sony Pictures Releasing)          

Kerry Washington – Shadow Force (Lionsgate)

Tessa Thompson – Hedda (Amazon MGM Studios) 

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture

Janelle James – One of Them Days (Sony)

Jayme Lawson – Sinners (Warner Bros. Pictures)

Regina Hall – One Battle After Another (Warner Bros. Pictures)

Teyana Taylor – One Battle After Another (Warner Bros. Pictures)

Wunmi Mosaku – Sinners (Warner Bros. Pictures )

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture

A$AP Rocky – Highest 2 Lowest (A24)

Damson Idris – F1 (Apple Original Films)

Delroy Lindo – Sinners (Warner Bros. Pictures)

Jeffrey Wright – Highest 2 Lowest (A24)

Miles Caton – Sinners (Warner Bros. Pictures)

Outstanding Independent Motion Picture

40 Acres (Magnolia Pictures)

Love, Brooklyn (Greenwich Entertainment)

Magazine Dreams (Briarcliff Entertainment)

Opus (A24)

Unexpected Christmas (3 Diamonds Entertainment)

Outstanding International Motion Picture

40 Acres (Magnolia Pictures)

My Father’s Shadow (MUBI)

Souleymane’s Story (Kino Lorber)

The Fisherman (Luu Vision Media)

The Secret Agent (NEON)

Outstanding Breakthrough Performance in a Motion Picture

A$AP Rocky – Highest 2 Lowest (A24)

Chase Infiniti – One Battle After Another (Warner Bros. Pictures)

Miles Caton – Sinners (Warner Bros. Pictures)

Tabitha Brown – Unexpected Christmas (3 Diamonds Films)

Tyriq Withers – HIM (Monkeypaw Productions)

Outstanding Ensemble Cast in a Motion Picture

Michael B. Jordan, Hailee Steinfeld, Miles Caton, Jack O’Connell, Wunmi Mosaku, Jayme Lawson, Omar Miller, Buddy Guy, Delroy Lindo, Peter Dreimanis, Lola Kirke, Li Jun Li, Saul Williams, Yao – Sinners (Warner Bros. Pictures)

Keke Palmer, SZA, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Lil Rel Howery, Katt Williams – One of Them Days (Sony Pictures Releasing)

Jonathan Bailey, Marissa Bode, Coleman Domingo, Cynthia Erivo, Jeff Goldblum, Ariana Grande, Ethan Slater, Bowen Yang, Michelle Yeoh – Wicked: For Good (Universal Pictures)

Denzel Washington, Jeffrey Wright, Ilfenesh Hadera, A$AP Rocky – Highest 2 Lowest (A24)

Idris Elba, Rebecca Ferguson, Gabriel Basso, Jared Harris, Tracy Letts, Anthony Ramos, Moses Ingram, Jonah Hauer-King, Greta Lee, Jason Clarke – A House of Dynamite (Netflix)

Outstanding Animated Motion Picture

Elio (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)

KPop Demon Hunters (Netflix)

Sneaks (Briarcliff Entertainment)

The Bad Guys 2 (DreamWorks Animation)   

Zootopia 2 (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)

Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance – Motion Picture

Anthony Mackie – Sneaks (Briarcliff Entertainment)

Craig Robinson – The Bad Guys 2 (DreamWorks Animation)

Danielle Brooks – The Bad Guys 2 (DreamWorks Animation)

Lil Rel Howery – Dog Man (DreamWorks Animation)

Quinta Brunson – Zootopia 2 (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures)

Outstanding Short Form (Live Action)

ADO (Baylor University)

Before You Let Go (Find Your People Program)

Best Eyes (American Film Institute Conservatory)

Ella (Netflix)

Food for the Soul (P.A. Works)

Outstanding Short Form (Animated)

ASALI: Power of The Pollinators (Upenndo! Productions)

Black Man, Black Man (Chainwheel Productions)

Captain Zero: Into the Abyss Part II (Cutting Edge Animation)

Jazzy Bells (Deep C Digital)

Wednesdays with Gramps (DreamWorks Animation)

Outstanding Breakthrough Creative (Motion Picture)

Cassandra Mann – Unexpected Christmas (3 Diamonds Entertainment LLC)

Contessa Gayles – Songs from the Hole (Netflix)

Nnamdi Asomugha – The Knife (Relativity Media)

R.T. Thorne – 40 Acres (Magnolia Pictures)

Rachael Abigail Holder – Love, Brooklyn (Greenwich Entertainment)

Outstanding Performance by a Youth in a Motion Picture

Amari Price – The Knife (Relativity Media)

Estella K. Kahiha – The Woman in the Yard (Athena Studios)

Jahleel Kamara – Shadow Force (Lionsgate)

Naya Desir-Johnson – Sarah’s Oil (Amazon MGM Studios)

Peyton Jackson – The Woman in the Yard (Universal Pictures)

Outstanding Cinematography in a Motion Picture

Autumn Durald Arkapaw, ASC – Sinners (Warner Bros. Pictures)

Kira Kelly – HIM (Universal Pictures)

Martim Vian – Love, Brooklyn (Greenwich)

Sean Bobbitt – Hedda (Amazon MGM Studios)

Shabier Kirchner – Materialists (A24)

Television Categories

Outstanding Comedy Series

Abbott Elementary (ABC)

Harlem (Prime Video)

Survival of the Thickest (Netflix)                                                                                           

Outstanding Original Score for Television/Film

Boots (Madison Gate Records)

Eyes of Wakanda Original Soundtrack (Hollywood Records)

Marvel’s Ironheart: Vol. 1 (Original Soundtrack) (Hollywood Records)

One of Them Days (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (Madison Gate Records, TriStar Productions)Sinners (Original Motion Picture Score) (Proximity Media LLC, under exclusive license to Sony Classical, a label of Sony Music Entertainment)                                       

Film Categories

Outstanding Motion Picture

Highest 2 Lowest (A24)

One of Them Days (Sony Pictures Releasing)

Sarah’s Oil (Amazon MGM Studios)

Sinners (Warner Bros. Pictures)

Wicked: For Good (Universal Pictures)

Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture

André Holland – Love, Brooklyn (Greenwich Entertainment)

Denzel Washington – Highest 2 Lowest (A24)

Michael B. Jordan – Sinners (Warner Bros. Pictures)

Nnamdi Asomugha – The Knife (Relatively Media)

Tyriq Withers – HIM (Monkeypaw Productions)