Age: 53
female
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.
Ava DuVernay
Director
for Director in A Raisin in the Sun: The Lorraine Hansberry Story
Suggested by kamsismith
Lorraine Hansberry was a trailblazer whose voice resonated far beyond the stage. Born into a politically active family in Chicago, she defied societal norms and pursued her passion for writing despite facing racial discrimination and gender bias. Her seminal work, "A Raisin in the Sun," shattered barriers and became an iconic portrayal of the African American experience, earning critical acclaim and challenging the status quo. But behind the scenes, Lorraine's journey was fraught with challenges. From confronting racism in the theater world to navigating personal relationships in a turbulent era, she grappled with issues of identity, justice, and the pursuit of the American Dream. Through it all, her unwavering commitment to truth and social justice fueled her determination to make a difference. As Lorraine's star rose, so did her involvement in the civil rights movement. She marched alongside Martin Luther King Jr., fought for fair housing, and used her platform to amplify marginalized voices. Yet, fame came at a cost, testing her resolve and forcing her to confront the complexities of her own identity and beliefs.
