The African American Film Critics Association (AAFCA) recently released its top 10 list of films of 2022. “The Woman King” about the all-female army, the Agojie, which stars Viola Davis, was named the best film of the year.
“Our top film, ‘The Woman King,’ bridges the gap between telling important, heartfelt stories, and providing an entertaining experience for movie-going audiences,” AAFCA president and co-founder Gil Robertson said in a press statement. “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” and “Emancipation,” starring Will Smith, are also on the list.
“The best films of this year prove that diverse stories — the true and the fantastical — are not only important to the culture but are equally important to the movie-making business. Black films which make an impact on our minds and hearts are also making a sizable impact at the box office,” said Robertson.
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The AAFCA, founded in 2003, is the premiere body of Black film critics in the world. It actively reviews cinema at-large, with a particular emphasis on films which include the Black experience.
These are the top 11 films of 2022:
1. The Woman King
The Woman King is the remarkable story of the Agojie, the all-female unit of warriors who protected the African Kingdom of Dahomey in the 1800s with skills and a fierceness unlike anything the world has ever seen, its trailer says.
2. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever
Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett), Shuri (Letitia Wright), M’Baku (Winston Duke), Okoye (Danai Gurira) and the Dora Milaje (including Florence Kasumba), fight to protect their nation from intervening world powers in the wake of King T’Challa’s death, Marvel says in an overview.
3. Till
Check out the never-before-told story of Mamie Till Mobley’s quest for justice for her son, Emmett.
4. Sidney
This documentary honors the legendary Sidney Poitier and his legacy as an iconic actor, filmmaker and activist at the center of Hollywood and the Civil Rights Movement, its trailer says.
5. Emancipation
Inspired by a true story, one man fights through unthinkable terrors in an attempt to reunite with his family, Apple says.
6. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
World-famous detective Benoit Blanc heads to Greece to peel back the layers of a mystery surrounding a tech billionaire and his eclectic crew of friends, Netflix says.
7. Inspection
A young, gay Black man, rejected by his mother and with few options for his future, decides to join the Marines, doing whatever it takes to succeed in a system that would cast him aside, IMDb says.
8. Causeway
A U.S. soldier suffers a traumatic brain injury while fighting in Afghanistan and struggles to adjust to life back home.
9. Everything Everywhere All at Once
An aging Chinese immigrant is swept up in an insane adventure, in which she alone can save the world by exploring other universes connecting with the lives she could have led, its trailer says.
10. Wendell & Wild
The titular characters, a pair of demon brothers played by comedy icons Key & Peele trick troubled teen, Kat Elliott (Lyric Ross), into bringing them from the underworld into the land of the living and mayhem ensues, Netflix says.
11. Devotion
Devotion, an aerial war epic based on the bestselling book of the same name, tells the harrowing true story of two elite US Navy fighter pilots during the Korean War. Their heroic sacrifices would ultimately make them the Navy’s most celebrated wingmen, its official trailer says.
