In A Fairer World, ‘Origin’ Would Be A Vital Best Picture Nominee

 

Origin film poster. 

For the past few years, Black women filmmakers are reaching this great postmodern renaissance. They’re crafting incredible stories that put Black women’s experiences at the center of the cinematic picture— A. V. Rockwell’s A Thousand and One, Raven Jackson’s All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt, Chinonye Chukwu’s Till, and etc. Now Ava DuVernay’s latest picture Origin adds more crucial fuel to this poignant hot fire— a biopic unlike any other. 

Isabel (Aunjanae Ellis-Taylor) spends hours going over her research as most writers do. DP: Matthew J. Lloyd.

Isabel Wilkinson is in a crisis. 

The Pulitzer Prize winning author struggles to write a new book in a country continuously steeped in racial turmoil. She’s often reading books, jotting notes, and traveling around the world for research purposes, trying to meet deadlines— the film candidly illustrating the stages of a writer’s lifestyle. She interviews individuals who either agree and/or engage with her philosophies or those who take offense to her bold comparisons. 

Either way, Isabel stops at nothing to form research that she believes wholeheartedly in. 

Isabel relays some of her thoughts to her cousin Marion (Niecy Nash-Betts). DP: Matthew J. Lloyd.

Isabel puts in the work, uncovering unsettling truths centered around a system older and greater than racism and sexism alone— the original separation tactic that keeps certain people at the bottom while those on top cannot be toppled—caste. The threaded connections are woven into many cultural tapestries, so complex and nuanced, that Isabel herself becomes stunned yet fascinated by the roots of her vital discoveries. It’s an intelligent Black woman’s intense emotional labor— performed in the most beautiful countries. Isabel does what needs to be done. She pursued her theories and hypotheses with stunning perseverance and clarity, asking the right questions and receiving the answers needed to form her book. 

Stylistically similar to I Will Follow, Middle of Nowhere, and Selma, Ava DuVernay’s Origin meshes poetic elements together, soft vulnerable moments spliced between harsh violence and heavy memories. Origin is also a refreshing change from the typical green-lit Hollywood biographies— often formulaic and filled with false exaggerations. They love placing special emphasis on Black women musicians as though that’s their main contribution to society— next to mammies and slaves of course. 

The actress bringing Isabel to cinematic life is Aunjunae Ellis-Taylor, whose compassionate rendering of a woman’s desire to find truth through writing in the face of strife and grief demonstrated remarkable skill to the acting craft— a phenomenal masterclass. The myriad of emotional range and could overwhelm any eye. Yet Ellis-Taylor proves that she was fit for this part. Other performing highlights include criminally under-praised Audrey McDonald’s Miss character— her words regarding the racist school principal stuck well past the credits ended. Niecy Nash-Betts as Isabel’s cousin Marion provides a gentle backbone, a necessary reprieve from the cruel histories revealed through Isabel’s documentary work. 

Isabel travels place to place, a collector of valid information. DP: Matthew J. Lloyd. 

Origin should have been given a real chance to thrive. The message delivers pivotal and necessary knowledge, especially imperative in a world shackled by the permanence of this global foundation. It goes beyond isms, divulging a deeply embedded injustice system that cannot be ignored much longer. 

Some folks believe art has no real ability to change the world.

Ava DuVernay’s film starts a dialogue that disproves it. 

Congratulations Aunjanue Ellis On A Stellar Awards Season!

 

Aunjanue Ellis is on fire. 

With the award season over and done, we had only one Black woman constantly in the nomination pool. It was bound to be a hard battle— a tough hurdle when considering the history of Black women’s impossible odds in the industry. A first-time Oscar nominee for the Best Supporting Actress category (now perceived as Black women actresses’ only hope), Aunjanue Ellis’s presence was a beautiful blessing above all things. 

Image from Shondaland.

A Brown University and Tisch School for the Arts alum, the phenomenally talented Ellis has been a dynamite force on both small and big screen for years. Most people will say she was excellent in The Help. Others have watched her in The Book of Negroes, When They See Us, Lovecraft Country, If Beale Street Could Talk, and The Clark Sisters. She got her start in the gritty FOX series New York Undercover in the episode Buster and Claudia (she played Claudia). 

Aunjanue Ellis at the Oscars dressed in a gorgeous tangerine custom Versace gown. 

As an homage to Ellis’s late mother, “Jax Baby” was stitched onto the sleeve. Extremely coincidental that she lost her mother Jacqueline and I lost mine recently— Jacquelyn. Thus, this meaningful act by designers for Ellis touched me too. 

Ellis has been steadily working for decades in sometimes the smallest of parts. Unfortunately to Hollywood Reporter, she revealed why.  

“I’m going to be transparent and honest and say I don’t get a hundred scripts sent to me. Of what I do get, though, I just want to do things that I would wake up in the morning and be glad to go do for the day. What makes me personally happy. What I feel would make Black women feel seen and feel heard. That can’t be in every role that I play, but those are the projects that I try desperately to be part of and to make happen.”

Black women have it difficult in all filmmaking fields— onscreen and behind-the-scenes, especially brown and dark skinned women often encouraged to portray servitude roles, taking backseats to preferred leading candidates. That means not having the opportunity to showcase the full breadth of their talents, of their potential. And Ellis is a well-trained, gifted actress deserving of so much more. 

Ellis at the National Board of Review ceremony. Photographed by Mike Coppola. 

In The Work You Do, The Person You Are essay, Toni Morrison eloquently writes, “Perhaps he [her father, George Wofford] understood that what I wanted was a solution to the job, not an escape from it. In any case, he put down his cup of coffee and said, ‘Listen. You don’t live there. You live here. With your people. Go to work. Get your money. And come on home.’” 

When conceiving that Ellis cannot always choose the roles that do make “Black women feel seen and heard,” at the end of the day, sometimes a part is just a part— just another job. However, in this role of Oracene Price—a role that Ellis advocated and fought for— she found a calling, a welcome mat to demonstrate her acting capability. 

“I looked at the fact that I was playing this woman whom I had so much respect for, and I just felt that this can’t be true. It just felt unbelievable to me.”

Here’s hoping somebody watched Ellis’s performance and said, “I’ve got a story specifically reserved for her and it’s a good, unstereotypical one.” 

Custom Dolce & Gabbana gown at the Critics Choice Awards. Photographed by James Anthony. 

With custom “Jax Baby” on the back. Photographed by James Anthony.  

This was the biggest awards season for Ellis yet. The 2 time Emmy and 8 time NAACP Image Award nominee garnered recognition from the National Board of Review, Black Reel, the Black Film Critics Circle, the African American Film Critics Association, the ACCEC Awards, and the AARP Movies For Grownups as well as several critics awards. While Ellis is triple crown worthy, she deserves notice from our organizations. That’s why the Essence honor was a valid testament to true solidarity, a commendable honor to Ellis’s small yet significant body of work. 

Essence’s 15th Annual Black Women in Hollywood honored Nia Long, Quinta Brunson, Chante Adams, and Aunjanue Ellis. Photographed by Rich Polk for Getty Images. 

Thank you, Aunjanue Ellis for all that you do and will continue to do. You’re an amazing inspiration to so many. Let’s continue giving this brilliant woman her flowers for phenomenally dedicated work in television, film, and theater. We look forward to what comes next.