Ava DuVernay

Date of Birth: August 24, 1972

Zodiac Sign: Virgo

Biography

Ava DuVernay is a groundbreaking American director, producer, and screenwriter known for her powerful and socially conscious films and television series. Born in Long Beach, California, she was raised by her mother and stepfather in Lynwood, California. DuVernay initially pursued a career in public relations, founding her own PR firm, The DuVernay Agency. However, her passion for filmmaking led her to create her first short film, “Saturday Night Life,” in 2006. DuVernay’s career took off with the critically acclaimed 2012 film “Middle of Nowhere,” which earned her the Best Director award at the Sundance Film Festival, making her the first African-American woman to receive this honor. She continued to break barriers with “Selma” (2014), a historical drama about the 1965 Selma to Montgomery voting rights marches, which was nominated for several Academy Awards, including Best Picture. In addition to her work in film, DuVernay has made significant contributions to television. She created and directed the series “Queen Sugar” (2016) and the Netflix miniseries “When They See Us” (2019), which earned critical acclaim and numerous awards. DuVernay is also the founder of ARRAY, a distribution company dedicated to amplifying films by women and people of color.

5 Interesting Facts about Ava DuVernay

1. Ava DuVernay was the first African-American woman to win the Best Director prize at the Sundance Film Festival.

2. She is the first African-American woman to be nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Director.

3. DuVernay directed “A Wrinkle in Time” (2018), making her the first African-American woman to direct a film with a budget over $100 million.

4. She founded the film collective ARRAY, which focuses on distributing films by women and people of color.

5. DuVernay was the first African-American woman to have her film nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards.

5 Most Interesting Quotes from Ava DuVernay

1. “If your dream only includes you, it’s too small.”

2. “I don’t have to tell stories the way that men do. I tell stories in the way that my culture and my history and my experience has taught me to tell stories.”

3. “Ignore the glass ceiling and do the work. If you’re focusing on what you don’t have, you’re focusing on the wrong thing.”

4. “The work is going to be what it is. The work is going to be what you make it.”

5. “There’s nothing like the power of a story to open hearts and minds.”