Winners for the 2013 NAACP Image Awards were announced on Friday, February 1 establishing Kerry Washington and George Lucas’ Red Tails as some of the top honorees in the movie category.
The George Lucas-produced drama about the Tuskegee Airmen was awarded the outstanding motion picture prize to which the executive producer exclaimed, “Look! I beat Quentin Tarantino,” as he accepted the award. Just like the theme of “triumph against all odds” rang out in the movie itself, Red Tails soared above a field of competition that included Oscar hopefuls such as Benh Zeitlin’s Beasts of the Southern Wild, Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained and Robert Zemeckis’s Flight.
However, Django would not be silenced, as the slavery film gained some awards of its own that night, including Kerry Washington’s and Samuel L. Jackson’s respective honors for supporting actor and actress in a motion picture.
In her emotional acceptance speech Washington told the audience “This award does not belong to me. It belongs to our ancestors. We shot this film on a slave plantation in the South. They were with us every step of the way.
Aside from her acting award, Washington took home two other trophies during the event. One was for best actress in TV drama series for ABC’s Scandal and the other was the President’s Award for her public service.
Other winners at the Steve Harvey-hosted ceremony included Denzel Washington for outstanding actor in a motion picture for “Flight,” Viola Davis for outstanding actress in a motion picture for “Won’t Back Down” Don Cheadle for outstanding actor in a comedy for Showtime’s House of Lies, and Loretta Devine as supporting actress in a drama series for Grey’s Anatomy.
Members of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People select the winners for the award ceremony which is held annually.
Check out the full list of the 2013 NAACP Awards in the Movie and Television categories on the next page.
