This is the first win for Sinners, which is in the hunt for 16 awards overall. Ryan Coogler, who wrote the screenplay, is personally up for three tonight, including best director and best picture (he’s nominated as one of its producers). He’s twice been nominated before, for songwriting (Lift Me Up in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever) and best picture for Judas and the Black Messiah.
This is his first win, and the producers of the telecast can rest easy about running time: he speaks so quickly that if he collects a swag, the show will probably finish early.
Ryan Coogler accepts the award for writing (original screenplay) for Sinners.Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP
Coogler spends much of his speech thanking his family, and in particular, his children: “Thank you all for making me believe in myself, and to my babies that are at home watching, I apologise for all the time away.
“Dad loves you. Memories are all we have. I hope I’ve given you some great ones, and you’re blessed to live a long life, and that becomes just a memory. I want y’all to remember this one thing – I love y’all more than anything.”
Sinners is a horror film, and a musical, and a powerful allegorical story about the way the white entertainment industry has vampirically feasted off black culture. It is deeply political, but Coogler shied away from saying anything pointed on that front, as he has throughout this awards campaign.
Is he letting the movie do the talking, or keeping his powder dry in expectation of a return to the stage later? Let’s see how that plays out.