In 2014, three black female directors had theatrical features released. That represents an annual high-water mark, more than ever before. Yet in the big picture, that was a mere three out of 373 films that came out in theaters last year.
One of those three films, Selma directed by Ava DuVernay, was nominated for the Best Picture Oscar and won the Academy Award for Original Song (“Glory”).
Many contend that Selma should have earned more nominations, including one that would have made DuVernay the first African-American woman to get an Oscar nod for Best Director.
But perhaps the more salient point is that Selma was also generally regarded as the only Oscar contender this year which prominently involved people of color. The lack of contenders is more of an issue than one contender receiving or not receiving its fair share of nominations.
DuVernay herself recognizes this and is proving to be a force to help bring about needed change.
DuVernay’s success with such films as Middle of Nowhere and Selma is credited with inspiring aspiring directors–including women and people of color. Her own story, which has seen her transition from savvy film marketer and publicist to acclaimed director, is one source of inspiration. Another source of encouragement is the African-American Film Festival Releasing Movement (AFFRM), a collaborative group that she helped to launch in 2011 and which has brought select black-themed art films–such as her I Will Follow and Andrew Dosunu’s Restless City–to multiplexes in major cities.
Under its ARRAY distribution label, AFFRM looks to provide hands-on nurturing and expertise to at least two films a year, giving African-American filmmakers a conduit for exposure of their work. “Films were being made but not seeing the light of day,” she explained. “This only inhibited filmmakers from wanting to make a film because there was no end game. By providing grass-roots independent release of these films, we hope to encourage more people to make films. We’ve thus far released eight films over the last four years.”
DuVernay noted, “We look to gain publicity along the lines of what a studio independent might get–USA Today, CNN, the Entertainment Tonights, The L.A. Times, New York Times.” She related that AFFRM has deals with Netflix, the AMC theater chain, and “art houses around the country who initially weren’t interested in booking black independent films. We’ve done a lot of cultivation in that area to prove to those art houses that audiences are there for these movies.”
Among the founding organizations behind AFFRM are Urbanworld (NYC), Imagenation (NYC), Reelblack (Philadelphia), and the Langston Hughes Film Festival (Seattle).
Personal initiative
As for the inspiration her career path has provided to others, including minority filmmakers, DuVernay is an example of a person creating one’s own opportunities. She first established herself as a film marketer and publicist for 14-plus years. DuVernay formed DVA Media + Marketing, a firm that provided strategy and execution for more than 120 film and TV campaigns for directors such as Steven Spielberg, Clint Eastwood, Michael Mann and Bill Condon.
She originally harbored no ambition to become a director but over the years that goal evolved. “I worked on many sets and did lots of junkets. I constructed marketing and publicity campaigns and from my proximity to filmmakers it became very clear to me what filmmaking wasn’t–it wasn’t magic. It was regular people with ideas, with some elbow grease and gusto, making films. I realized it was something possible to accomplish. It demystified the process for me and I felt it wholly possible for me to do what they did. Since I had a small boutique agency, I could self-determine some of my time–right after I finished marketing Invictus with Clint Eastwood. I took a couple of weeks over the Christmas holiday to shoot a short film. Then I shot a documentary over the course of the next year during weekends and evenings. That got some attention and resulted in my getting the chance to create a music documentary.”
DuVernay said that the music documentary experience ”gave me confidence and a little bit of money to shoot my first narrative film, which I made for 50 grand with my savings.”
That narrative film, I Will Follow, was directed, written and produced by DuVernay. Starring Salli Richardson-Whitfield, the family drama was hailed by critic Roger Ebert as “one of the best films I’ve seen about the loss of a loved one.”
DuVernay’s second narrative feature, Middle of Nowhere, won the Best Director Award at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, the 2013 John Cassavetes Independent Spirit Award and the Tribeca Film Institute 2013 Affinity Award. It was after Middle of Nowhere that DuVernay quit publicity (following her work on the campaign for The Help).
Her body of directorial work also includes the network documentaries Venus Vs for ESPN and My Mic Sounds Nice for BET, along with John Legend Interludes Live, Essence Music Festival and Faith Through The Storm for TV One. In 2013, DuVernay directed an episode of the hit ABC primetime series Scandal as well as fashion and beauty films for Prada and Fashion Fair with The Door and Say Yes, respectively.
DuVernay directed and served as an executive producer on Selma, which has earned assorted honors and nominations. Selma for example landed Golden Globe nominations for Best Motion Picture-Drama, Best Director, and Best Performance by An Actor In a Drama (David Oyelowo). “Glory” won the Golden Globe for Best Original Song. Selma also garnered five Film Independent Spirit Award nominations: Best Feature, Director, Male Lead (Oyelowo), Supporting Actress (Carmen Ejogo) and Cinematography (Bradford Young). Furthermore there are prospects for Selma to add to its audience when it comes to a smaller screen, slated to debut on Blu-ray Combo Pack, DVD and On Demand May 5 from Paramount Home Media Distribution. The film arrives two weeks earlier on Digital HD April 21.
As for life after Selma, DuVernay is slated to focus on television in 2015 followed by a planned return to features in 2016. Regarding TV, DuVernay shared, “I’m enamored with the possibilities of the freedom auteurs are getting when they enter this space–we see it with filmmakers such as Steve Soderbergh, Steve McQueen, Jill Soloway. They’re going to TV to develop the elongated story over multiple episodes.”
At press time DuVernay was directing the pilot and executive producing For Justice, a CBS series about a black female FBI agent who investigates civil rights abuses. And this summer DuVernay is scheduled to shoot in New Orleans a series she created for the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN)–Queen Sugar, which centers on a modern-day L.A. woman who inherits a sugar plantation in the South. DuVernay also is represented by RSA Films for spots and branded content.
