African American Film Critics group celebrates Black Hollywood and beyond while building its stature

Filmmaker Ava DuVernay remembered working as a publicist years ago, struggling to draw major traffic to star-studded events for the African American Film Critics Association. No matter which renowned Black actor showed up — from Viola Davis to Forest Whitaker — the organization known as AAFCA still had a hard time garnering mainstream media's attention and attendance from non-Black honorees to its flagship awards ceremony and other events. Now, two decades after its founding as a small organization, AAFCA has grown in size and scope and built an admirable reputation in Hollywood.