Asian American artists were among the nominees for the 47th annual NAACP Image Awards,?? ?? ??? announced on Dec. 8.
The awards, which will be presented on Feb. 5, honor “accomplishments of people of color in the fields of television, music, literature and film,” along with “individuals or groups who promote social justice through creative endeavors.”
Director/screenwriter Cary Fukunaga’s “Beasts of No Nation,” a drama about child soldiers in a fictional African country, was nominated for best motion picture along with “Creed,” “Concussion,” “Dope,” and “Straight Outta Compton.”
“Beasts of No Nation” was also nominated for outstanding independent motion picture along with “Brotherly Love,” “Chi-Raq,” “Infinitely Polar Bear,” and “Secret in Their Eyes.”
Fukunaga was not nominated in the best motion picture director category.
For their roles in “Beasts of No Nation,” Abraham Attah was nominated for outstanding actor in a motion picture and Idris Elba for outstanding supporting actor.
Attah will be competing with Chiwetel Ejiofor for “Secret in Their Eyes,” Michael B. Jordan for “Creed,” Michael Ealy for “The Perfect Guy,” and Will Smith for “Concussion.”
Elba will be competing with Ejiofor for “The Martian,” Corey Hawkins for “Straight Outta Compton,” Forest Whitaker for “Southpaw,” and O’Shea Jackson Jr. for “Straight Outta Compton.”
Hudson Yang, who plays Eddie Huang in ABC’s “Fresh Off the Boat,” was nominated for outstanding performance by a youth (series, special, television movie or mini-series) along with Marcus Scriber, Marsai Martin and Miles Brown for ABC’s “Black-ish” and Skai Jackson for Disney Channel’s “Jessie.” This was the only nomination for “Fresh Off the Boat.”
Aziz Ansari, formerly of “Parks and Recreation,” was nominated for outstanding directing in a comedy series for an episode of his new show on Netflix, “Master of None.” Also nominated were Brad Silberling for “Jane the Virgin,” Don Cheadle for “House of Lies,” Peter Atencio for “Key & Peele,” and Stan Lathan for “Real Husbands of Hollywood.”
Anzari and “Master of None” co-creator Alan Yang were nominated for outstanding writing in a comedy series for the same episode, titled “Parents.” Also nominated were Jennie Snyder Urman for “Jane the Virgin,” Jill Soloway for “Transparent,” Jordan Peele, Keegan-Michael Key, Jay Martel, Ian Roberts, Rebecca Drysdale, Colton Dunn, Phil Augusta Jackson, Alex Rubens, Charlie Sanders and Rich Talarico for “Key & Peele,” and Kenya M. Barris for “Black-ish.”
Judith Hill was nominated for outstanding new recording artist. She recently released her debut album, “Back in Time,” produced by Prince. She was featured in the documentary “20 Feet from Stardom,” was a finalist on NBC’s “The Voice,” and has been a backup singer for such artists as Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder, Elton John and Josh Groban.
For more information, visit www.naacpimageawards.net.