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 Mind Playing Tricks: The Geto Boys Story
Suggested by kamsismith
Set in the unforgiving streets of Houston’s Fifth Ward in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, Mind Playing Tricks: The Geto Boys Story is a visceral, multi-part miniseries chronicling the rise of one of hip-hop’s most controversial and influential groups: the Geto Boys. With a blend of raw lyricism and a rebellious spirit, this is the story of how three artists—Scarface, Willie D, and Bushwick Bill—pushed boundaries and shattered stereotypes to become icons, paving the way for Southern rap and rewriting the rules of hip-hop. Each episode dives into the lives of the three core members, revealing their unique and troubled pasts, the allure and trials of fame, and the toll of their unfiltered exploration of mental health, inner demons, and life on the streets. At its heart, this series explores their breakthrough album We Can’t Be Stopped, the explosive reaction to their hit “Mind Playing Tricks on Me,” and their battles with censorship, both from music critics and law enforcement. Alongside powerful live performances and an authentic portrayal of Houston’s street culture, Mind Playing Tricks is a story of survival, resilience, and brotherhood against all odds. It is a story that confronts the struggles of African American men in America, shines a light on mental health within the Black community, and digs into the cost of artistry in an unforgiving world.
