Happy Birthday Ava DuVernay: Fem Film Rogue Icon Spotlight

It is very easy to gush about this amazing queen, a Time 100 honoree that frequents The Root 100.

Ava DuVernay is our modern day heroine. She is the slayer of outdated, crusty old white dragons in Hollywood and politics, blasting away stereotypical perceptions of black humanity with fiery heartfelt poise. This commendable award winning champion produces and directs films that show vastness of our beautiful black diaspora, scoping beneath chained pigeonholes. Her oeuvre is an incredulous stretch between documentary and narrative realms, letting blackness breathe usually oppressive breath into television and film screen, especially rewarding black women gifted narratives they deserve.

A double major (English and African American studies) at UCLA, DuVernay was first a public relations consultant for many film and television projects including Julie Dash's The Rosa Parks Story and Shola Lynch's Chisholm '72: Unbought and Unbossed. She directed her first IMDb credit short in 2006 called Saturday Night Life. Then she helm top notch documentaries: This is the Life, Compton in C Minor (a short), My Mic Sounds Nice: The Truth About Women in Hip Hop, and a Nine XI feature Venus VS. Last year, she released 13th, a powerful must see discussing true ramifications of the thirteenth amendment; which deceivingly appeared to be abolishment of slavery. A nasty clause, however, enforced imprisoning blacks in another way, a creative loophole that takes away their rights long after they're released. Yet most of the time, they'll never regain stolen freedom.

I will always remember her talk last year, how passionate she is about giving black women filmmakers the chance to show their work. In Hollywood, where light skin prevails so constantly, it's also amazing to see that DuVernay lets women like Emayatzy Corinealdi and Rutina Wesley shine brightly as leading protagonists. 

For dramatic narrative, she directed poignant I Will Follow, the riveting Selma, and an episode of Scandal. Middle of Nowhere, a top ten favorite, is about a hardworking nursing school student sacrificing her dreams for an imprisoned husband on parole all the while balancing work, organizing a good lawyer, a dysfunctional family situation, and finding  beautiful bus driver companionship. The camera directions are pure art form, playing with metaphoric abstraction. Bradford Young, a frequent cinematographer collaborator of hers, knows how light operates on black skin.

For other shorts, The Door is delightful, colorful, glamorous, and magical Miu Miu produced black woman fairytale without a knight in shining armor. This sisterly love piece has the best actresses under the sun: Gabrielle Union, Adepero Oduye, Alfre Woodward, and Emayatzy Corinealdi. Fashion Fair's Say Yes is sweet and delicious, like a lingering love note.

And last but certainly not least, Queen Sugar, an adaptation of Natalie Bazsile's novel, is the most powerful, under appreciated prose on television today. With a strong cast, gorgeous cinematography, solid writing, and treasured directing by solely women directors, this is a gem for history/herstory books.

DuVernay's films have been nominated for Oscars (13th and Selma). She is the first African American woman to win Sundance Film Festival Award for Best Directing for a Drama, the first African American woman to be nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Director of a Theatric Drama Film, the first African American woman to have a film nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, and the first African American woman to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Directing of a Documentary Film. Other notable wins include a Humanitas Prize, BAFTA, NAACP Image Award, The John Cassavetes Award, AAFCA, Black Reel, and Woman In Film Circle Awards. She was invited to join the AMPAS writers and directors branches, the second African American woman director to join after Kasi Lemmons. Up next, she is nominated for three Emmys and will receive the Directing Prize at the Brittania Awards.

This gorgeous Ava DuVernay inspired Barbie doll sold out in minutes.

Currently, she has many upcoming projects to be enthusiastic about-- A Wrinkle in Time (2018) for Disney, a documentary on the Central Park Five (2019), and Lupita Nyong'o/Rihanna girlfriends film both for Netflix. Battle of Versailles will be an adaptation of Robin Givhan's book and an adaptation of Octavia Butler's Dawn with Victoria Mahoney for television.

In addition to writing, directing, and producing films and television, DuVernay founded ARRAY, formerly AFFRM, promoting people of color and women's voices. It is tough receiving film distribution, especially for first time directors. The mission is to offer them that chance. So far, they have released films from all over the globe including the terrific British thriller Honeytrap. As an ARRAY Rebel, which helps ARRAY immensely, perks include digital music and beanies. Every now and then, ARRAY hosts a fun Twitter party/campaign drive that allows fans to tweet questions to their favorite black filmmakers. Past guests to the usually trending all day event have included Julie Dash, Gina Prince-Blythewood, Ryan Coogler, and so many more.

So yes, Ava DuVernay is a true queen, a worthy icon to celebrate.

Before going "onward," here are a few of her most inspiring quotes:

"I make films about black women and it doesn't mean that you can't see them as a black man, doesn't mean that he can't see them as a white man or she can't see them as a white woman."

"We're told that independent film lovers... folks that are used to watching art house films, won't come out and see a film with black people in it - I've been told that in rooms, big rooms, studio rooms, and I know that's not true."

"I didn't start out thinking that I could ever make films. I started out being a film lover, loving films, and wanting to have a job that put me close to them and close to filmmakers and close to film sets."