Judas and The Black Messiah is leading the 2021 Oscars nominations, alongside Nomadland and Minari, with six nods.
The Shaka King-directed film about Black Panther Chairman Fred Hampton and FBI informant, William O’Neal, who infiltrated the party to provide intel on Hampton, received the following nominations:
- Best Picture
- Actor In A Supporting Role (Daniel Kaluuya)
- Actor In A Supporting Role (LaKeith Stanfield)
- Cinematography
- Original Screenplay
- Original Song (“Fight For You” – H.E.R., Dernst Emile II, and Tiara Thomas)
About ‘Judas And The Black Messiah’:
In 1968, a young, charismatic activist named Fred Hampton became Chairman of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party, who were fighting for freedom, the power to determine the destiny of the Black community, and an end to police brutality and the slaughter of Black people.
Chairman Fred was inspiring a generation to rise up and not back down to oppression, which put him directly in the line of fire of the government, the FBI and the Chicago Police. But to destroy the revolution, they had to do it from both the outside…and the inside. Facing prison, William O’Neal is offered a deal by the FBI: if he will infiltrate the Black Panthers and provide intel on Hampton, he will walk free. O’Neal takes the deal.
Now a comrade in arms in the Black Panther Party, O’Neal lives in fear that his treachery will be discovered even as he rises in the ranks. But as Hampton’s fiery message draws him in, O’Neal cannot escape the deadly trajectory of his ultimate betrayal.
Though his life was cut short, Fred Hampton’s impact has continued to reverberate. The government saw the Black Panthers as a militant threat to the status quo and sold that lie to a frightened public in a time of growing civil unrest. But the perception of the Panthers was not reality. In inner cities across America, they were providing free breakfasts for children, legal services, medical clinics and research into sickle cell anemia, and political education. And it was Chairman Fred in Chicago, who, recognizing the power of multicultural unity for a common cause, created the Rainbow Coalition—joining forces with other oppressed peoples in the city to fight for equality and political empowerment.
Watch The Trailer:
Congratulations to everyone involved with this amazing film.
My only gripe is that Daniel and LaKeith are in the same category when both men deserve an Oscar.
Have you seen the film?
