Ava DuVernay
Birth : 1972-08-24, Long Beach, California, USA
History
Ava Marie DuVernay (born August 24, 1972) is an American director, screenwriter, producer, and former rapper. In the 1990s, DuVernay was active in the Los Angeles underground hip hop scene, performing under the names AvA and Eve, and as one half of the duo Figures of Speech with fellow female MC Ronda Ross (aka Jyant). DuVernay's debut film, music documentary "This Is the Life" (2008), chronicled the rise and enduring influence of the scene of which she had been a part, focusing on its epicenter at the famous open mic nights in the Good Life Cafe, where many major west coast underground hip hop artists got their starts. At the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, DuVernay won the Best Director Prize for her second feature film "Middle of Nowhere", becoming the first African-American woman to win the award. For her work on "Selma" (2014), DuVernay was the first black female director to be nominated for a Golden Globe Award and also the first to have her film nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, though she was not nominated for Best Director. In 2017, she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for her political documentary "13th" (2016).
Self
A look at British actor David Oyelowo's journey to playing Civil Rights activist Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Ava DuVernay's acclaimed 2014 biopic Selma, based on the 1965 Selma to Montgomery voting rights marches.
Writer
Examines the unspoken system that has shaped America and chronicles how our lives today are defined by a hierarchy of human divisions dating back generations.
Producer
Examines the unspoken system that has shaped America and chronicles how our lives today are defined by a hierarchy of human divisions dating back generations.
Director
Examines the unspoken system that has shaped America and chronicles how our lives today are defined by a hierarchy of human divisions dating back generations.
Laemmle Theaters, the beloved art house cinema chain in Los Angles has an astonishing legacy, with ties to the origins of Hollywood. This is a story about a 3rd generation family business and their determination to survive.
Self
A primetime special with performances from the superstar including Adele’s first new material in six years plus her chart-topping hits. The special will also feature an exclusive interview with Adele by Oprah Winfrey from her rose garden, in Adele’s first televised wide-ranging conversation.
Self
This documentary chronicles renaissance man Gordon Parks’ stellar career from staff photographer for LIFE magazine, through his artistic development photographing everyday Americans, through his evolution as a novelist and groundbreaking filmmaker.
Herself
Executive Producer
An ambitious Indian driver uses his wit and cunning to escape from poverty and rise to the top. An epic journey based on the New York Times bestseller.
Producer
An ambitious Indian driver uses his wit and cunning to escape from poverty and rise to the top. An epic journey based on the New York Times bestseller.
Executive Producer
A virtuoso jazz pianist and film composer tracks his family's lineage through his 91-year-old grandfather from Jim Crow Florida to the Walt Disney Concert Hall.
Self
An exploration of the nexus of art, race, and justice through the story of art collector and philanthropist Agnes Gund who sold Roy Lichtenstein’s painting “Masterpiece” in 2017 for $165 million to start the Art for Justice Fund to end mass incarceration.
Executive Producer
The story of a defiant movement of women of color transforming American politics from the ground up. Filmed during the historic 2018 midterm elections, the series follows organizers and candidates as they fight on behalf of black, brown, immigrant and poor communities–long neglected by politicians and pundits alike.
Self
Oprah Winfrey talks with the exonerated men once known as the Central Park Five, plus the cast and producers who tell their story in "When They See Us".
Self
The epic life story of Alice Guy-Blaché (1873–1968), a French screenwriter, director and producer, true pioneer of cinema, the first person who made a narrative fiction film; author of hundreds of movies, but banished from history books. Ignored and forgotten. At last remembered.
Herself
At a pivotal moment for gender equality in Hollywood, successful women directors tell the stories of their art, lives and careers. Having endured a long history of systemic discrimination, women filmmakers may be getting the first glimpse of a future that values their voices equally.
Director
After the disappearance of her scientist father, three peculiar beings send Meg, her brother, and her friend to space in order to find him.
Producer
Documentary film on events that happened on August 28th in African-American history, shown at the Smithsonian African-American History Museum.
Writer
Documentary film on events that happened on August 28th in African-American history, shown at the Smithsonian African-American History Museum.
Director
Documentary film on events that happened on August 28th in African-American history, shown at the Smithsonian African-American History Museum.
Herself
Four girlfriends take a trip to New Orleans for an annual festival and, along the way, rediscover their wild sides and strengthen the bonds of sisterhood.
The interviews show these extraordinary women sharing their diverse journeys, personal stories, and perspectives, and the effect is both inspiring and empowering. The Female Lead is an initiative founded by data pioneer and entrepreneur Edwina Dunn to make women’s stories more visible, offering alternative role models with the goal of fostering ambition and self-belief in young women.
Herself
In this 30-minute interview, Oprah Winfrey sits down with director Ava DuVernay to discuss her Oscar-nominated film, historical cycles of oppression and the broken prison system.
Executive Producer
A visual celebration of the beauty, strength, perseverance and spirit of the Black community in these troubling times.
Producer
An in-depth look at the prison system in the United States and how it reveals the nation's history of racial inequality.
Writer
An in-depth look at the prison system in the United States and how it reveals the nation's history of racial inequality.
Director
An in-depth look at the prison system in the United States and how it reveals the nation's history of racial inequality.
Executive Producer
A female FBI agent finds herself caught between her family and her work.
Director
A female FBI agent finds herself caught between her family and her work.
Writer
"Selma," as in Alabama, the place where segregation in the South was at its worst, leading to a march that ended in violence, forcing a famous statement by President Lyndon B. Johnson that ultimately led to the signing of the Voting Rights Act.
Executive Producer
"Selma," as in Alabama, the place where segregation in the South was at its worst, leading to a march that ended in violence, forcing a famous statement by President Lyndon B. Johnson that ultimately led to the signing of the Voting Rights Act.
Director
"Selma," as in Alabama, the place where segregation in the South was at its worst, leading to a march that ended in violence, forcing a famous statement by President Lyndon B. Johnson that ultimately led to the signing of the Voting Rights Act.
Self - Filmmaker
The surprising and entertaining life of renowned film critic and social commentator Roger Ebert (1942-2013): his early days as a freewheeling bachelor and Pulitzer Prize winner, his famously contentious partnership with Gene Siskel, his life-altering marriage, and his brave and transcendent battle with cancer.
Associate Producer
This award winning documentary, narrated by Lou Reed, explores the breadth and depth of Occupy Wall Street and how it quickly grew from a small park in lower Manhattan to an international movement. The film highlights why people from diverse age, ethnic and financial backgrounds support the movement and its focus of removing money from politics in order to reclaim democracy from entrenched corporate interests so that critical issues including job creation, affordable access to health and education, protecting the environment and gun safety can be fully addressed. Featuring interviews with a wide range of subjects including Occupiers, economist Jeffrey Sachs and business magnate Russell Simmons.
Director
This short film by Ava DuVernay celebrates a love of African-American culture, camaraderie, love and romance.
Writer
This short film by Ava DuVernay celebrates a love of African-American culture, camaraderie, love and romance.
Producer
The Door, by Ava DuVernay, is a celebration of the transformative power of feminine bonds, and a symbolic story of life change.
Writer
The Door, by Ava DuVernay, is a celebration of the transformative power of feminine bonds, and a symbolic story of life change.
Director
We know about the swing. We know about the swagger. But what most Americans don't know about Venus Williams is how she changed the course of her sport. In a stunning case that captured the European public beginning in 2005, Williams challenged the long-held practice of paying women tennis players less than their male counterparts at Wimbledon. With a deep sense of obligation to the legacy of Billie Jean King, Williams lobbied British Parliament, UNESCO and Fleet Street for financial parity. And it was her poignant op-ed piece in The London Times that convinced many people that the Wimbledon tournament organizers were "on the wrong side of history." Roland Garros and Wimbledon finally relented in 2007. That year at Wimbledon, Venus became the first women's champion to earn as much as the men's singles winner (Roger Federer). VENUS VS. chronicles Williams' fight for pay equality.
Director
The Door, by Ava DuVernay, is a celebration of the transformative power of feminine bonds, and a symbolic story of life change.
Producer
When her husband is sentenced to eight years in prison, Ruby drops out of medical school in order to focus on her husband's well-being while he's incarcerated - leading her on a journey of self-discovery in the process.
Writer
When her husband is sentenced to eight years in prison, Ruby drops out of medical school in order to focus on her husband's well-being while he's incarcerated - leading her on a journey of self-discovery in the process.
Director
When her husband is sentenced to eight years in prison, Ruby drops out of medical school in order to focus on her husband's well-being while he's incarcerated - leading her on a journey of self-discovery in the process.
Producer
Chronicles a day in the life of a grieving woman, and the twelve visitors who help her move forward.
Writer
Chronicles a day in the life of a grieving woman, and the twelve visitors who help her move forward.
Director
Chronicles a day in the life of a grieving woman, and the twelve visitors who help her move forward.
Executive Producer
Ava DuVernay focuses on the history of female MCs in the hip hop industry in this short documentary that features Missy Elliott, Salt-N-Pepa, Eve, Jean Grae, Roxanne Shante, Trina, The Lady of Rage, and many more.
Director
Ava DuVernay focuses on the history of female MCs in the hip hop industry in this short documentary that features Missy Elliott, Salt-N-Pepa, Eve, Jean Grae, Roxanne Shante, Trina, The Lady of Rage, and many more.
Director
'Compton in C Minor' is a meditation on the gang capital of the world from a hometown girl's point of view. Frustrated by negative portrayals of the inner-city, director Ava DuVernay challenged herself to capture Compton in only two hours and present whatever she found. The results touch on everything from unemployment to entrepreneurship, from graffiti to pride of ownership. The short documentary ends with an inspiring spectacle that will cause you to rethink your stereotypes of this community.
Producer
In 1989, a collective of young hip hop artists gathered at a health food café in South Central Los Angeles. Their mandate? To reject gang culture and expand the musical boundaries of hip hop. DuVernay's documentary chronicles the historic legacy of the Good Life Cafe — the open mic nights that became an L.A. institution, the eclectic array of talented young MCs that emerged there, the alternative hip hop movement they developed, and their worldwide influence on the artform.
Self
In 1989, a collective of young hip hop artists gathered at a health food café in South Central Los Angeles. Their mandate? To reject gang culture and expand the musical boundaries of hip hop. DuVernay's documentary chronicles the historic legacy of the Good Life Cafe — the open mic nights that became an L.A. institution, the eclectic array of talented young MCs that emerged there, the alternative hip hop movement they developed, and their worldwide influence on the artform.
Director
In 1989, a collective of young hip hop artists gathered at a health food café in South Central Los Angeles. Their mandate? To reject gang culture and expand the musical boundaries of hip hop. DuVernay's documentary chronicles the historic legacy of the Good Life Cafe — the open mic nights that became an L.A. institution, the eclectic array of talented young MCs that emerged there, the alternative hip hop movement they developed, and their worldwide influence on the artform.
Director
Writer-director Ava DuVernay's short drama concerns a poor, struggling single mother whose trip with her three children to a 99-cent store in Los Angeles becomes an unexpectedly uplifting family experience. Melissa DeSousa ("The Best Man") stars.
Director
Plot speculated. Story pitched on Twitter centers on a scheming character (Rihanna) and her computer-smart best friend (Lupita Nyong'o).
