When we think of the word “trailblazer,” the unrivaled Ava DuVernay instantly comes into mind. She won the 2012 Sundance Film Festival’s Best Director Prize for her second feature film, Middle of Nowhere, making her the first black woman to have won the award. Since then, DuVernay has continued to make history a countless amount of times. She became the first black woman to be nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Director for her stupendous work in her film, Selma. The movie chronicled the story of Martin Luther King Jr.’s tireless efforts to secure equal voting rights through a march from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama in 1965.
DuVernay also directed the highly-acclaimed Disney film, A Wrinkle in Time, which made her the highest grossing black woman director in American box office history. The unsurpassed director has a numerous amount of other groundbreaking projects under her belt. She also directed the much raved about Netflix series, When They See Us, about the case of The Central Park Five. The stupendous DuVernay also worked with Colin Kaepernick to create the Netflix series, Colin in Black & White.
The Emmy, BAFTA and Peabody Award winner doesn’t only create and direct some of the best cinematic and television masterpieces we’ve ever seen, but she creates projects with a purpose to shed light on racial and systemic injustices.
Being the first of many accomplishments in the entertainment industry is a truly admirable thing, but what’s just as commendable is how DuVernay uses her platform to open the door for others. DuVernay founded ARRAY in 2011, a multi-platform arts and social impact collective dedicated to narrative change. Through ARRAY, DuVernay highlights the work made by and featuring women and people of color. Giving these kind of opportunities has always been a big passion for DuVernay. In fact, she worked with Oprah Winfrey on the show Queen Sugar, where she hired only female directors.
The phenomenal Ava DuVernay’s latest project is her film, Origin, which she wrote and directed based off of Isabel Wilkerson’s book, Caste. As with every one of her projects, Origin is moving, riveting and is meant to spark the conversations needed to be had.
The exceptional Ava DuVernay has changed the world in more ways than words can describe and the best part is, she is paving the way and encouraging others to do the same. DuVernay is fostering a movement to highlight talented individuals’ work who may otherwise have not gotten the chance to have their projects be seen by the masses. A world without Ava DuVernay is a world without impact.
I had the tremendous honor of interviewing Ava DuVernay at TheWrap‘s Power Women Summit about what it was like for her working on her latest film, Origin, and what is the biggest takeaway she’d like viewers to have from watching the film. DuVernay also revealed a piece of advice she would give to her younger self—hear what she had to say in our VIPAccessEXCLUSIVE interview below.
Check out my VIPAccessEXCLUSIVE interview with pioneering filmmaker Ava DuVernay at TheWrap’s Power Women Summit below. Follow Ava DuVernay on Instagram: @Ava
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