Sinners made history at the 2026 BAFTA Film Awards, becoming the most decorated film by a Black director in the ceremony’s history.
At the 79th British Academy Film Awards on Sunday, Feb. 22, the Ryan Coogler-directed vampire thriller took home three awards: Best Original Screenplay, Best Original Score and Best Supporting Actress for Wunmi Mosaku. The ceremony was hosted by Alan Cumming at London’s Southbank Centre Royal Festival Hall.
In addition to its wins, Sinners was the second-most nominated film of the night with 13 total nominations. The milestone makes Coogler the most awarded Black director in BAFTA history, surpassing the previous record set by Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave, which won two BAFTAs in 2014.
Accepting the award for Best Original Screenplay, Coogler, 39, reflected on his journey and the community that supported him.
“I come from a community that loves me,” Coogler said onstage. “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.”
He continued, “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.”
Sinners* stars Michael B. Jordan in dual roles as Smoke and Stack, twin brothers from Clarksdale, Mississippi, who return home after years of working with mobsters in Chicago and attempt to open a juke joint. The film also features Wunmi Mosaku as Annie, a Hoodoo conjurer and spiritual leader; Hailee Steinfeld as Mary; Miles Caton as Sammie; and Omar Benson Miller as Cornbread. The story blends Southern Gothic themes with supernatural horror, symbolism and a striking Irish dance sequence.
Mosaku, 39, who won Best Supporting Actress for her performance, spoke emotionally about what the role meant to her.
“A part of my hopes, my ancestral power and connection, parts of myself I thought I’d lost or tried to dim as an immigrant trying to fit in,” she said in her acceptance speech. “Through her, I deepened my belief in my potential, my capacity to love and hope in the darkest moments of grief and in the face of this harsh world.”
Earlier this year, Michael B. Jordan also praised Sinners while accepting the Icon Award in the Actor category at the Palm Springs International Film Festival, calling the film a reminder of “what’s possible when great artists come together and are given the freedom to create from their souls.”
“Like Smoke and Stack, we’re two sides of the same coin,” Jordan said of his creative partnership with Coogler, with whom he has collaborated on Fruitvale Station, Creed and Black Panther. “We’ve been building something special together film after film. You push me, I push you. And together we make work that neither one of us could do alone. You give me room to take risks, and I bring everything I have to your vision. Sinners is proof of that.”
Source: People