Andra Day Honored by Black Women Film Network for ‘Billie Holiday’ Role
#Music
Andra Day accepted the On Her Shoulders Preservation Award during the Black Women Film Network 2021 Summit on Saturday (March 6), thanking the non-profit organization for honoring her work in The United States Vs. Billie Holiday.
“Thank you for recognizing and honoring the work that we put into this, to continue to push Black women’s narratives forward, to continue to uncover Black women’s narratives,” Day said in a virtual acceptance speech.
“This award is more special to me because of our community, because of our family, because of who we are,” Day continued. “And to just know that I have the support and that Black women were moved by the film and felt they were represented, and felt that they were seen… I think that has everything to do with Billie Holiday’s legacy.”
The honor comes less than a week after Day won the Golden Globe best actress in a drama trophy for her performance in Hulu’s The United States vs. Billie Holiday, becoming the second-ever Black actress to win the category and the first to do so in 35 years.
Day was a first-time Globes winner. She was also nominated for best original song with Raphael Saadiq for “Tigress & Tweed” from the film, which is now streaming.
Her win marks the category’s first Black winner since Whoopi Goldberg, who became the first Black actress to do so in 1986. Halle Berry famously lost the category for Monster’s Ball but went on to win the Oscar in 2002. And Angela Bassett, who was a presenter on Sunday, was the last Black actress to win best actress in a comedy or musical, in 1994.
The Black Women Film Network is the oldest non-profit organization focused on preparing Black women in the film, television, and new media industries. On Saturday, it honored noteworthy names in the industry including Day, Debra L. Lee, Rikki Hughes, Mikki Turner, Courtney Neal and Denise Armstrong during its annual BWFN Summit.
The summit’s theme this year was “The Revolution Will Be Digitized: Black Women Leading in New Spaces as Multi-hyphenate Creators.” Presented by Cvent, the event celebrated Black women in the arts and entertainment industry and featured master classes, seminars and activities that helped connect key industry leaders with aspiring entertainment professionals. Featured speakers represented brands such as ColorCreative, BET, WME, NBCUniversal, WarnerMedia, Netflix, Tyler Perry Studios, CNN, and Starz.
This article originally appeared on The Hollywood Reporter.
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Sharareh Drury, Khareem Sudlow, DMTDaily
