The Black Continental Independent Movie Awards (BCIMA) AKA Black Cinema Awards is an online filmmakers film festival that recognizes and celebrates excellence in film by persons of African descent or films about the global Black experience.

Our Mission

To promotes Black Independent Filmmakers and support Black films.

Our Vision

To increase marketing and distribution opportunities for Black Independent Filmmakers or films related to Black issues.

Awards & Prizes

BEST FILM

BEST DIRECTOR

BEST SCREENPLAY

BEST ACTOR

BEST ACTRESS

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

BEST EDITOR

BEST SHORT FILM

BEST DOCUMENTARY

BEST SOUND

Rules & Terms

Films completed two (2) years before submission starts date are eligible for consideration in our nomination. Non-English submissions must be available in their original language with English subtitles.

Selection Criteria

Films that promote Black Culture or addresses Black Issues
Films made by Independent Black Filmmakers

Judging Process

Our judging process is a peer to peer RATING system where filmmakers with SELECTED films serve as judges in their respective category (feature, short, or documentary).

Judges are setup with a BCIMA subuser account in FilmFreeway; and are assigned to films uploaded in FilmFreeway to watch and rate based on categories below.

Rating Categories:

1. Originality / Creativity
2. Direction
3. Writing
4. Cinematography
5. Lead Male(s) Performance(s)
6. Lead Female(s) Performance(s)
7. Supporting Male(s) Performance(s)
8. Supporting Female(s) Performance(s)
9. Editing
10. Sound / Music
7 Reviews
Overall Rating
Quality
Value
Communication
Hospitality
Networking
  • Joy T.J. Riley

    Thank you BCIMA for recognizing indie filmmakers in the diaspora! It has been an incredible experience! And thank you for being creative with your way of navigating around the present climate.

    November 2020
    Helpful
  • Frank Mccurrie

    One of the best virtual festivals I was apart of.

    November 2020
    Helpful
  • Stephanie Tum

    Great Festival I am honoured my movie Saving Mbango won Best Feature film , Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Editor.
    See you next year!

    November 2020
    Helpful
  • Jasmine Andrews

    Great festival. I wish I could have attended in person.

    November 2020
    Helpful
  • Atlas O. Phoenix

    My team and I were thrilled to be nominated for 6 awards. This was one of the best stops on our film tour. I liked the peer-to-peer judging platform. I got to see a lot of great shorts. To be included among those films was a blast. We received an Honorable Mention for Little Men. Due to the pandemic, we couldn't network, but it was still a great experience. Can't wait to tell the team! Thanks again, BCIMA!

    November 2020
    Helpful