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 Rise of Lamont: The Bentley Story
Suggested by kamsismith
Rise of Lamont: The Bentley Story takes audiences on an emotional journey through the life of Lamont Bentley, a young man who defied the odds to carve out a space for himself in Hollywood. The film opens in the gritty streets of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where Lamont dreams of a life beyond his surroundings. With a natural charisma and a talent for performance, he finds solace in acting, which becomes his escape from a challenging home life marked by struggle and uncertainty. As Lamont breaks through with his role as Hakeem Campbell on the hit sitcom Moesha, he experiences the highs of fame—red carpets, laughter, and camaraderie with his castmates. However, the story delves deeper, exploring the complexities of his character and the societal pressures that come with success. Lamont grapples with the tension between his rising star and the responsibilities he feels toward his community and family, all while battling personal demons. Through heartfelt flashbacks, we witness Lamont’s formative years, the impact of his family's love and struggles, and his unwavering passion for the arts. His relationships with his mother, his friends, and his colleagues reveal the man behind the laughter, showcasing the vulnerability and resilience that define his journey.
