Who could forget Halle Berry’s emotionally charged Oscar speech in 2002 when she won the Best Actress trophy for Monster’s Ball (she also earned a Golden Globe nomination). At the time, it was a historic win, marking Berry as the first Black woman to ever win in that category. These days numerous Black actors and filmmakers are making a difference on the big and small screen. Some of them include the following: 

The Golden Globe and Oscar-nominated film Fruitvale Station put filmmaker Ryan Coogler on the map in Hollywood. His follow-up Creed, the spinoff from the Rocky franchise, was critically acclaimed and a commercial success, raking in $173.6 million worldwide. This led to the record-breaking Black Panther which Coogler co-wrote and directed, and which took in $1.344 billion. The film earned the late Chadwick Boseman an Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe win for Best Actor. Coogler’s follow-up, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, saw Angela Bassett taking home a Best Supporting Actress trophy at the Golden Globes and an Oscar nomination. Bassett previously won a Golden Globe for her portrayal of Tina Turner in What’s Love Got To Do With It.

Filmmaker Jordan Peele earned four Oscar nods and took home the Best Screenplay for Get Out in 2018, while the acclaimed satire also earned a Best Motion Picture Musical or Comedy nomination at the Golden Globes that year. Other notable work includes Us, Nope, and Wendell & Wild. As a producer, Peele earned a Best Motion Picture Drama nomination at the Golden Globes for Blackkklansman and a Best Picture nod at the Oscars. Spike Lee, who has been the recipient of numerous awards since 1983 when he won the Student Academy Award, directed and co-wrote Blackkklansman for which he earned Oscar and Golden Globe nominations for Best Director and Best Picture nominations and an Oscar win for Best Adapted Screenplay. The multi-award-winning film starred John David Washington, son of award-winning Denzel, who also earned a Best Actor Drama nomination at the Golden Globes.

Screenwriter/producer Shonda Rhimes is best known for the hit TV series Scandal, Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice, How to Get Away with Murder, The Catch, and Station 19. She was named by Time magazine as one of the 100 Most Influential People in 2007, 2013, and 2021. Most recently, she is known for such hits as Bridgerton, and Inventing Anna. For Inventing Anna, Julia Garner earned a Best Actress nomination at the Golden Globes. 

Kenyan Mexican actress Lupita Nyong’o’s breakout performance in 12 Years a Slave earned her a Best Supporting Actress Oscar and a Golden Globe nomination. This career-defining win led to other notable roles, such as the Star Wars sequel trilogy, Us, and the films Black Panther and its sequel. Forbes named her one of Africa’s 50 Most Powerful Women.

Barry Jenkins won a Best Director trophy at the Academy Awards for Moonlight which also earned him a Golden Globe nomination; the film won Best Picture Drama. He was nominated for Best Adapted Screenplay at the Golden Globes and the Academy Awards for If Beale Street Could Talk. Thanks to Jenkins’ inspired casting of then-unknown Mahershala Ali in Moonlight, Ali earned a Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe and won an Oscar for the same role. Time magazine named him one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2019, and the New York Times declared him among the 25 Greatest Actors of the 21st Century the following year. Ali followed up with Green Book, which earned him wins at the Golden Globes and Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor. He was also nominated for Best Actor for Swan Song at the Golden Globes.

Victoria Mahoney, who directed The Old Guard 2, soon to be released on Netflix, is known for directing such TV hits as Queen Sugar, Grey’s Anatomy, American Crime, Lovecraft Country, Power, and You. She was also the first woman to direct a Star Wars film after JJ Abrams chose her to direct the second unit of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

Since her 2009 role in Doubt, for which she earned a Best Supporting Actress nomination at both the Golden Globe and the Oscars, Viola Davis has been on a steady path to success. Numerous other accolades followed, including the Best Actress trophy at the Golden Globes and Oscars for the film Fences. Other notable roles include The Help, How to Get Away with Murder, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, all of which garnered Golden Globe nominations, as well as this year’s Best Actress nod for her role in The Woman King.

Other critically acclaimed heavyweights in front of and behind the camera include Denzel Washington, Samuel L. Jackson, Steve McQueen, Forest Whitaker, Will Smith, Jamie Foxx, Don Cheadle, Daniel Kaluuya, Donald Glover, Tyler Perry, Ava DuVernay, Antoine Fuqua and this year’s Golden Globe Cecil B. deMille recipient Eddie Murphy.