‘Sinners’ breaks BAFTA records for Black film-making – and that’s a problem

Blues-infused vampire horror film Sinners took home three bronze masks at this year’s BAFTAs, after taking box office charts by storm during its initial release.

With the three awards, Sinners has become the most highly-decorated movie by a Black director – Ryan Coogler – in BAFTA history. This is, of course, a colossal achievement, and every one was rightly deserved (and then some). In particular, the movie took best original screenplay for Coogler’s extraordinary script.

The only problem is that this is the year of the Common Era 20-goddamn-26. How the fuck am I writing ‘first Black winner’ for any category in 2026?

Sinners gets 13 nominations, 3 awards

The awards ceremony was held at the Royal Festival Hall in London on Sunday 22 February. Sinners, a historical horror set in Jim Crow-era Mississippi, was nominated for 13 categories. These included leading actor, casting, cinematography, editing, costume design, make-up and hair, production design, and sound.

In themselves, those 13 nominations are another record for a film by a Black director. However, it was still one less than the Leonardo DiCaprio-fronted One Battle After Another, which took six BAFTA wins this year. Incidentally, One Battle has drawn intense criticism for its stereotype-laden depiction of Black women.

Along with Coogler’s award, Wunmi Mosaku won best supporting actor for her role as Sinners’ Hoodoo priestess, Annie. Composer Ludwig Göransson also took home best original score for the film’s centuries-spanning soundtrack.

‘Feeling seen’

Along with its slick storytelling and gorgeous camerawork, Sinners also drew high praise for its palpable love of Black culture – historical, contemporary and future. Taking the stage to accept his award, Coogler spoke about the importance of community and care for the subject matter of his writing:

I come from a community that loves me. They made me believe that I could do this, that I could be a writer. And it was amazing to be accepted into the community of film actors, the community of Los Angeles … For all the writers out there, when y’all look at that blank page, think of who you love, think of anybody who you’ve seen in pain that you identify with and wish they felt better and let that love motivate you. I’ll be forever grateful for this, thank you all.

Likewise, at the winner’s press conference, Mosaku stated that:

It always feels good when you feel like your story and your experience is being represented with integrity and creativity.

In particular, she talked about the personal importance of hearing:

the response of black women feeling seen, loved, valued, treasured, and the power of our ancestry and the spirituality.

For me, seeing that response made me realise how lonely I felt and all of a sudden these women were in my life who I’d never met, I felt a kinship to.

An ongoing battle

I really can’t speak highly enough about how beautiful this movie looked, how moving its soundtrack was, how well the actors embodied their characters. Seriously, if you haven’t watched it yet, do it.

But the fact that Sinners had to be this extraordinary in order to attain this level of recognition at the BAFTAs – and still come second to the somewhat-confused One Battle After Another. 

This speaks to a major problem within these prestigious awards – namely, the judges really prefer to give them to a white guys, if at all possible.

Just six years ago, all 20 candidates for both best lead and supporting actor were white. And, in the same year, not a single woman was nominated for best director (or any of the six years before that). Then, in 2023, all 49 winners across every category were white.

The previous record-holder for most BAFTAs for a film by a Black director was Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave, which received two masks back in 2014. It came joint third with The Great Gatsby, and behind both American Hustle and Gravity. 

A systematic issue

Director Ryan Coogler is also up for best original screenplay at this year’s Oscars. Likewise, Sinners itself is also up for a record-breaking 16 nominations at the prestigious US academy award ceremony.

The one previous Black screenwriter to win the Oscar for best original screenplay was Jordan Peele, for Get Out. Coincidentally, Get Out was also a horror centering on the idea of whiteness exerting control over Black bodies.