Ava DuVernay

Ava DuVernay is a writer, director, producer, and film distributor recognized for her contributions to American cinema and the advancement of Black storytellers. DuVernay began her career in film publicity and marketing, founding her own agency before transitioning to filmmaking. She started directing at age 32 and debuted with the narrative feature "I Will Follow," which earned the African American Film Critics Association Award for best screenplay. Her subsequent film, "Middle of Nowhere," made her the first African American woman to win the Best Director Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, establishing her as a significant voice in independent film.

DuVernay gained wider recognition with "Selma," a historical drama about Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s campaign for voting rights. The film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture, and DuVernay became the first African American woman to receive a Golden Globe nomination for Best Director. She continued to address social justice issues with the documentary "13th," which was nominated for an Academy Award, which was followed by "14th." DuVernay also directed "A Wrinkle in Time" for Disney, becoming the first Black woman in American box office history to direct a film grossing over $100 million.

In television, DuVernay created the Netflix limited series "When They See Us," which dramatizes the story of the falsely accused Central Park Five and received 16 Primetime Emmy Award nominations. Her drama series "Queen Sugar" on OWN became the longest-running Black family drama series by a Black woman creator in American television history.

DuVernay wrote, produced, and directed the feature film "Origin," inspired by the life and work of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Isabel Wilkerson and her book on the global caste system. The film was the first by a Black female director from the United States to compete in the official selection at the Venice Film Festival.

Beyond her own projects, DuVernay supports filmmakers of color and women through ARRAY, a nonprofit narrative change collective honored with the Peabody Institutional Award. She serves on the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, representing the directors' branch, and has been recognized by the Smithsonian with the Great Americans Medal for her cultural impact in film and television.