Known for Directing
Ava Marie DuVernay (/ˌdjuːvərˈneɪ/; born August 24, 1972) is an American filmmaker, screenwriter, and producer. She is a recipient of two Primetime Emmy Awards, two NAACP Image Awards, a BAFTA Film Award, and a BAFTA TV Award, as well as a nominee for an Academy Award and a Golden Globe. In 2011, she founded her independent distribution company ARRAY. After making her directorial debut with I Will Follow (2010), DuVernay won the directing award in the U.S. dramatic competition at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival for her second feature film, Middle of Nowhere, becoming the first black woman to win the award. For her work on Selma (2014), a biopic about Martin Luther King Jr., DuVernay became the first African-American woman to be nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Director; the film went on to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. Her other film credits include the Academy Award-nominated Netflix documentary 13th (2016) and the Disney fantasy film A Wrinkle in Time (2018), the latter making her the first African-American woman to direct a film with a $100 million budget. In 2023, she directed the biographical film Origin based on Isabel Wilkerson's book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents (2020). DuVernay's television credits include the OWN drama series Queen Sugar (2016) and two Netflix drama limited series: When They See Us (2019), based on the 1989 Central Park jogger case, and Colin in Black & White (2021), based on the teenage years of NFL player Colin Kaepernick. In 2017, DuVernay was included on the annual Time 100 list of the most influential people in the world. In 2020, she was elected to the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences board of governors as part of the directors branch. Description above from the Wikipedia article Ava DuVernay, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Born
August 24, 1972 (age 54)
Birthplace
Long Beach, California, USA
Filmography
56 films, 47 shows
14th
14th
2026 · 1h 40m
country: United States
Revolves around the equal protection and citizenship-focused 14th amendment, which was ratified in 1868 in the turbulent era of Reconstruction and has been a contentious part of the American body politic ever since.


Origin
2023 · 2h 21m
country: United States
While investigating the global phenomenon of caste and its dark influence on society, a journalist faces unfathomable personal loss and uncovers the beauty of human resilience.


A Wrinkle in Time
2018 · 1h 49m
country: United States
After the disappearance of her scientist father, three peculiar beings send Meg, her brother, and her friend to space in order to find him.


Family Feud
2018 · 8m
country: Unknown
Jay-Z aims to unite the new and older generations of rap fans, while also reflecting on his own infidelity.


August 28: A Day in the Life of a People
2017 · 22m
country: United States
Documentary film on events that happened on August 28th in African-American history, shown at the Smithsonian African-American History Museum.


13th
2016 · 1h 40m
country: United States
An in-depth look at the prison system in the United States and how it reveals the nation's history of racial inequality.


Selma
2014 · 2h 8m
country: United Kingdom
"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.
Say Yes
Say Yes
2013 · 8m
country: Unknown
This short film by Ava DuVernay celebrates a love of African-American culture, camaraderie, love and romance.
The Door
The Door
2013 · 9m
country: United States
The Door, by Ava DuVernay, is a celebration of the transformative power of feminine bonds, and a symbolic story of life change.


Venus VS.
2013 · 1h
country: United States
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.


Middle of Nowhere
2012 · 1h 41m
country: United States
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.


I Will Follow
2010 · 1h 16m
country: United States
Chronicles a day in the life of a grieving woman, and the twelve visitors who help her move forward.


My Mic Sounds Nice: A Truth About Women and Hip Hop
2010 · 43m
country: United States
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.
Compton in C Minor
Compton in C Minor
2009
country: Unknown
'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.


This Is the Life
2008 · 1h 37m
country: United States
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.


Saturday Night Life
2006 · 12m
country: United States
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.