The American Black Film Festival wrapped its final full day of programming for its 30th anniversary edition by announcing the winners of the 2026 festival at the Best of ABFF Awards.
Hosted by New York Times best-selling author and award–winning comedian, KevOnStage, the event included an electric performance by Grammy winner Anthony Hamilton, and the ABFF Alumni Award going to “Creed II” and “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts” director Steven Caple Jr.
“The Best of the ABFF Awards has always been about honoring the brilliance and resilience of independent creators,” said Jeff Friday, President of festival organizer Nice Crowd, via statement. “As we celebrate our 30th year, it is incredibly poetic to welcome back Steven Caple Jr., a filmmaker whose journey from our short film competition to global blockbuster success embodies the very mission of this festival. We are proud to celebrate him alongside this year’s exceptional nominees.”
Anthology film “Three Colors: Pan-African” and coming-of-age drama “Girl Dad” were the big winners for the U.S. Narrative Feature section, with the former receiving the Grand Jury Prize, the latter receiving the Screenwriting Award for writers Solvan “Slick” Naim and Lane Williamson, and both films receiving the Performance Award in a tie between Marsai Martin (“Girl Dad”) and Bashir Salahuddin (“Three Colors: Pan-African”). Meanwhile, the Directing Award went to “Otra” filmmaker Armani Ortiz.
While there were also winners for the international, episodic, and documentary sections, one of the highlights of the festival is its Oscar-qualifying HBO Short Film Award Showcase, which features Ryan Coogler and Reinaldo Marcus Green among its alumni. This year’s winner, “Spilled Milk,” written and directed by Jared Leaf, was produced by Oscar winner Jordan Peele, and stars J. Alphonse Nicholson, Jerry O’Connell, Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi, and Brandon Perea.
See the full winners list for the Best of ABFF Awards 2026 below.
- U.S. Narrative Feature (Grand Jury Prize): “Three Colors: Pan-African”
- Directing Award (U.S. Narrative Feature): Armani Ortiz (“Otra”) *Sponsored by Ally Financial
- Screenwriting Award (U.S. Narrative Feature): Solvan Slick Naim & Lane Williamson (“Girl Dad”) *Sponsored by Amazon MGM
- Performance Award (U.S. Narrative Feature) — TIE: Marsai Martin (“Girl Dad”) and Bashir Salahuddin (“Three Colors: Pan-African”)
- International Narrative Feature (Grand Jury Prize): “Small Gods”
- Episodic Series (Grand Jury Prize): “The Comic Shop”
- Documentary Feature (Grand Jury Prize): “Black Is Beautiful: The Kwame Brathwaite Story”
- HBO Short Film Award: “Spilled Milk” *Sponsored by Warner Bros. Discovery/HBO
- ABFF Alumni Award: Steven Caple Jr.
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