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Spelman College Professor Shola Lynch Nominated for Two NAACP Image Awards
Award-Winning Filmmaker Nominated for Outstanding Documentary and Directing
Last month, Shola Lynch, award-winning filmmaker and Diana King Endowed Professor of the Art and Visual Culture Department at Spelman College, received two NAACP Image Award nominations for her documentary, “Number One on the Call Sheet.”
“Number One on the Call Sheet,” released on March 28, 2025, on Apple TV+, is a two-part film that explores the experiences of leading Black actors in Hollywood, with part one centered on Black men and part two on Black women. Lynch, who directed part two of the film, was nominated for Outstanding Directory in a Documentary, along with her co-director Reginald Hudlin, who directed part one. The documentary film was nominated for Outstanding Documentary in the television category.
Through candid interviews, Lynch follows Angela Bassett, Whoopi Goldberg, Gabrielle Union, Halle Berry, Viola Davis, Alfre Woodard and Nia Long as they share breakthrough moments, strategies for success, and their perspectives on the future of Black talent in Hollywood.
It’s an honor to direct this story that captures a singular generation of Black leading actresses,” said Lynch in 2025 interview with VIBE. “We don’t have this kind of collective testimonial from any period of film history. It made me determined to create a vision that is bigger than the sum of the parts to honor and reflect their individual journeys and a collective truth.”
In 2014, Lynch won the NAACP Image Award for Best Theatrical Documentary for her film, “Free Angela and All Political Prisoners,” centered around Angela Davis’s political activism. Lynch’s work has been recognized for over 20 awards nationwide, including the Emmy Awards, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, the Critics’ Choice Association and more.
To learn more about this year’s nominees, visit naacpimageawards.net. The winners will be announced during the award show on Saturday, February 28, at 8 p.m. on BET and CBS.