BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY
Ava DuVernay
| Ava DuVernay | |
|---|---|
Ava DuVernay at Sirius Radio in January 2015. Photograph by Ray Tamarra
| |
| Born | Ava Marie DuVernay August 24, 1972 Los Angeles, California |
| Alma mater | UCLA |
| Occupation | Director, screenwriter, Film marketer, film distributor |
| Years active | 1999–present |
| Notable work | Selma |
| Home town | Compton, California |
| Parent(s) | Darlene Maye Murray Maye |
| Website | avaduvernay |
Ava Marie DuVernay (born August 24, 1972) is an American director, screenwriter, film marketer, and film distributor. At the 2012Sundance Film Festival, DuVernay won the Best Director Prize for her second feature film Middle of Nowhere,[1][2][3][4] becoming the first African-American woman to win the award.[5][6] For her work in Selma, DuVernay is the first black female director to be nominated for a Golden Globe Award.[7][8] With Selma, she is also the first black female director to have a film nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Picture.
Early life
DuVernay was born in Long Beach, California, to mother Darlene Maye, an educator.[9] DuVernay is the oldest of the five children. DuVernay grew up in Lynwood, California[10]and Compton, California.[11][12][13] DuVernay's father, Murray Maye, a businessman, is from Hayneville, Alabama, a small town between Montgomery and Selma.[11][14][15]DuVernay spent summers in Hayneville.[16] DuVernay said that these summers in Alabama influenced the making of Selma, as her father saw the Selma to Montgomery marchesas a small child.[11][17]
DuVernay attended Saint Joseph High School, where she graduated in 1990.[18] She graduated with a B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1995, where she double-majored in English and African-American studies.[13]
Career
While in college DuVernay became interested in broadcast journalism. While an intern for CBS News, she was assigned to help cover the O.J. Simpson murder trial. She became disillusioned with journalism, and decided to switch to publicity.[10][19][20]
Public relations
After graduation, she worked as a publicist.[19] DuVernay worked at FOX, Savoy Pictures[15] and other public relations firms for four years before forming her own agency, The DuVernay Agency, later known as DVA Media + Marketing, in 1999.[5] The award-winning marketing and publicity firm has provided strategy and execution for more than 100 film and television projects by directors such as Steven Spielberg, Clint Eastwood, Michael Mann, Robert Rodriguez, Kevin Smith, Bill Condon, Raoul Peck and Gurinder Chadha.
Film making
In 2008, DuVernay made her feature directorial debut with the documentary This Is the Life, a history of LA's Good Life Cafe's arts movement. DuVernay began with documentaries because they can be done on a smaller budget than a feature film, and she could learn the trade while doing so.[21]
In 2011, DuVernay's first narrative feature film, I Will Follow, a drama starring Salli Richardson-Whitfield, was released theatrically. DuVernay's aunt Denise Sexton was the inspiration for the film.[5][13][22] DuVernay made the film in 15 days with her own money: DuVernay "kept costs under $50,000 by staying in one location."[13] Roger Ebert called it "one of the best films I've seen about coming to terms with the death of a loved one."[23][24] I Will Follow was an official selection of AFI Fest, Pan-African Film Festival, Urbanworld and Chicago International Film Festival.
In the summer of 2011, DuVernay began production on her second feature film, Middle of Nowhere. The film was acquired by AFFRM and Participant Media at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, where it played in U.S. Dramatic Competition and garnered the Best Director Award for DuVernay, the first African-American woman to ever win the prize. DuVernay also won the Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award for her work on the film.
ESPN commissioned DuVernay to produce and direct Venus Vs., a documentary on Venus Williams' fight for equal prize money for their film series Nine for IX, which aired on July 2, 2013.[25]
Selma[edit]
DuVernay directed and co-wrote Selma, a $20 million budget film produced by Plan B Entertainment, about Martin Luther King Jr., Lyndon Johnson, and the 1965 Selma to Montgomery march.[26] The movie was released on December 25, 2014.[27]
There was significant controversy about Selma and its depiction of Lyndon Johnson's actions as portrayed in the film.[28][29] Former Johnson domestic policy aide Joseph A. Califano, Jr. criticized DuVernay for ignoring and falsifying history, and particularly for suggesting that Johnson reluctantly supported King's efforts and that he set the FBI to investigate King.[30] For the film she re-wrote most of the original screenwriter Paul Webb's script with an increased emphasis on King and the people of Selma as central figures.[31][32] In response to the criticisms of historians and media sources that accused her of irresponsibly rewriting history to portray her own agenda, DuVernay pointed out that the film is "not a documentary. I'm not a historian. I'm a storyteller".[33]
The film was nominated for Best Picture and Best Song, but not Best Director, by the Academy Awards. While the lack of diversity of the Oscar nominations for 2014 was the subject of much press,[34] especially on Twitter,[35] the film of the only person of color that was nominated for the 87th Academy Awards, Mexican director Alejandro González Iñárritu, ended up taking top honors in four categories at the February 2015 87th Academy Awards – Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best Cinematography. The award for Best Original Song went to "Glory" from Selma.[36][37] DuVernay stated that she had not expected to be nominated so the omission didn't really bother her; rather she was hurt by actor David Oyelowo not being nominated. As to the question of racial diversity of awards, she stated that the obstacles to people of color being represented in the Academy Awards were systemic.[35]
Television
Future projects
In 2013, she announced development on a narrative feature film entitled Part of the Sky set in Compton.[39]
In 2015, it was announced that DuVernay would be writing, producing, and directing her next project, a fictional account which will focus on the "social and environmental" aspects of Hurricane Katrina while including a love story and a murder mystery.[40] David Oyelowo, from Selma, will be part of the project.[41]
In 2015, DuVernay created and executive produced alongside Oprah Winfrey the upcoming drama series, Queen Sugar, which is set to air on Oprah Winfrey Network.[42][43]
In 2015, DuVernay will also executive produce and direct CBS civil rights crime drama pilot For Justice starring Anika Noni Rose.[44]
Other work
- In 2010, DuVernay directed several network music documentaries, including My Mic Sounds Nice for BET Networks and the Essence Music Festival 2010 for TV One.
- In 2013, DuVernay partnered with Miu Miu as part of their ad campaign Women's Tales.[45] Her short film The Door starred actress Gabrielle Union and reunited DuVernay with her Middle of Nowhere star Emayatzy Corinealdi. The film was later presented at the 70th Venice International Film Festival.[46]
- In August 2013, DuVernay released a second short film through Vimeo entitled Say Yes.[47] The film was sponsored by cosmetic brand Fashion Fair and starred Kali Hawkand Lance Gross. Julie Dash, Victoria Mahoney, Lorraine Toussaint and Issa Rae appeared as extras in the film.
- In September 2013, DuVernay started a podcast series called The Call-In,[48] a series of phone conversations recorded by African-American Film Festival Releasing Movement ("AFFRM") of Black filmmakers of feature narrative and documentary work
- On March 14, 2015, DuVernay gave a keynote address[49] at the 2015 SXSW Film Festival.[50][51] In the speech, DuVernay shared that she was the seventh choice of people asked to direct Selma[52] and described her experience as the 2015 Oscars, while being an honor to be able to attend, was just "a room in L.A."[53]
Film distribution
On January 7, 2011, an article entitled "Building An Alliance To Aid Films By Blacks" by Michael Cieply was published in The New York Times about DuVernay's effort to organize African-American film festivals and orchestrate theatrical releases for black independent films.[54] The organization she created is called the African-American Film Festival Releasing Movement (AFFRM) and it has released the following films:
- March 2011: DuVernay's I Will Follow
- Grossed a per-screen-average of $11,563, and expanded from five screens in five cities to 22 screens in 15 cities after its first weekend
- December 2011: Kinyarwanda
- 2011 Sundance Audience Award-winner
- April 2012: Restless City by Andrew Dosunmu
- 2011 Sundance Film Festival Official Selection
- October 2012: DuVernay's Middle of Nowhere
- Winner of the 2012 Sundance Film Festival for Best Director
- 2013: Storm Saulter's Better Mus' Come and Neil Drumming's Big Words
- 2014: BP Oil Spill documentary Vanishing Pearls by Nailah Jefferson and 25 To Life by Mike L. Brown
African-American Film Festival Releasing Movement's approach to distribution includes the incorporation of a grassroots collective of local Black film organizations who assist with local marketing and venue booking, as well as local publicity of AFFRM's films. The organizations include:
- Atlanta, GA: BronzeLens Film Festival[55]
- Harlem, NY: Imagenation[56]
- Houston, TX: Houston Museum of African American Culture[57]
- New York, NY: Urbanworld Film Festival[58]
- Philadelphia, PA: Reel Black Film Series
- Seattle, WA: Langston Hughes African American Performing Arts Institute[59]
- Washington, DC: Parallel Film Collective[60]
Artistry and influences
DuVernay has cited Haile Gerima, Julie Dash and Charles Burnett as her influences as a filmmaker.[61] DuVernay notes that while female directors are rare, black female filmmakers are rarer still – "a small sorority".[62]
Personal life
DuVernay resides in Los Angeles, California.[11]
Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| TBD | Queen Sugar | Creator, executive producer, writer and director | |
| 2014 | Selma | Director/Co-writer | African-American Film Critics Association Award for Best Director Black Film Critics Award for Best Director Black Reel Award for Best Director Nominated–Independent Spirit Award for Best Director Nominated–Satellite Award for Best Director Nominated–Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Director Nominated–Golden Globe Award for Best Director Nominated–Critics' Choice Movie Award for Best Director Nominated–NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Director Nominated–Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Director for Best Director Nominated–Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Director |
| 2013 | Scandal | Director | Episode: "Vermont is For Lovers, Too" |
| 2013 | Say Yes for Fashion Fair | Director/Writer | Branded Short |
| 2013 | Venus Vs. | Director/Writer | Television Documentary |
| 2013 | The Door for Prada | Director/Writer | Branded Short |
| 2012 | Middle of Nowhere | Director/Writer | U.S. Directing Award: Dramatic (2012 Sundance Film Festival) |
| 2011 | I Will Follow | Director/Writer | Narrative Feature Film |
| 2010 | My Mic Sounds Nice | Director/Executive Producer | Television Documentary |
| 2010 | Essence Music Festival '10 | Director/Writer | Television Documentary |
| 2010 | Faith Through the Storm | Director/Writer | Television Documentary |
| 2008 | This Is the Life | Director/Producer | Feature Documentary |
| 2007 | Compton in C Minor | Director/Producer | Short Documentary |
| 2006 | Saturday Night Life | Director/Writer | Narrative Short |
Awards, nominations, honors
- In June 2013, she was invited to both the director's and writer's branches of AMPAS.[63] DuVernay was only the second black woman, following Kasi Lemmons, to be invited to the director's branch.
- Duvernay became the inaugural recipient of the Tribeca Film Institute's Heineken Affinity Award, receiving a $20,000 prize and industry support for future projects. DuVernay donated all the money to the black arthouse film collective she founded known as AFFRM.[64]
- In June 2015, Duvernay will be honored as part of Women in Film Crystal + Lucy Awards with the Dorothy Arzner Directors Award.[65][66]
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | African-American Film Critics | Best Screenplay | I Will Follow | Won |
| 2012 | Black Reel Awards | Best Screenplay | Nominated | |
| Best Director | Nominated | |||
| NAACP Image Awards | Outstanding Independent Motion Picture | Nominated | ||
| Sundance Film Festival | Directing Award | Middle of Nowhere | Won | |
| Grand Jury Prize | Nominated | |||
| Film Independent Spirit Awards | Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award | Won | ||
| Humanitas Prize | Sundance Film | Nominated | ||
| African-American Film Critics | Best Independent Film | Won | ||
| Best Screenplay | Won | |||
| Best Picture | Nominated | |||
| Alliance of Women Film Journalists | Best Woman Screenwriter | Nominated | ||
| Women Film Critics Circle | Josephine Baker Award | Won | ||
| 2013 | Black Reel Awards | Best Director | Won | |
| Best Screenplay | Won | |||
| Best Film | Nominated | |||
| Gotham Awards | Best Feature | Nominated | ||
| 2014 | Online Film Critics Society Award | Best Director | Selma | Nominated |
| Black Film Critics Circle | Best Director | Won[67] | ||
| Central Ohio Film Critics Association | Best Director | Won | ||
| Breakthrough Film Artist | Won | |||
| Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award | Best Director | Nominated | ||
| Georgia Film Critics Association | Best Director | Nominated | ||
| Breakthrough Award | Nominated | |||
| Golden Globe Award | Best Director | Nominated | ||
| Alliance of Women Film Journalists | Best Director | Nominated | ||
| Best Woman Director | Won | |||
| Female Icon of the Year | Won | |||
| Critics' Choice Movie Awards | Best Director | Nominated | ||
| Satellite Awards | Best Director | Nominated | ||
| Film Independent Spirit Awards | Best Director | Nominated |
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