Golden Globe, Oscar, and Emmy Award nominee Ava DuVernay has several projects under her belt that fill a wide range of genres. From TV shows to documentaries and historical dramas to Disney fantasy films, she’s dipped her toes into almost everything. She is one of the most respected and in-demand directors, as she was courted by Marvel for Black Panther and at one point was developing New Gods for DC and Warner Bros. When Colin Trevorrow dropped out of directing Star Wars: Episode IX, she was on the top of many peoples preferred picks before J.J. Abrams came on board. She is a rare director who can walk in serious dramas but also is not afraid to work in populist media.
DuVernay truly shook up the film industry. She was the first Black woman to win the directing award at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, to be nominated for the Best Director Golden Globe, to direct a $100 million movie, and also to have her film nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards. DuVernay’s latest film, Origin, has hit theaters and is as visually powerful as one could expect from the director. Her career is still going strong, so look back at every film she has directed and see which is the best.
Update January 21, 2024: In honor of the release of Origin, this article has been updated by Samuel Cormier to reflect Ava DuVernay’s entire filmography as well as where you can stream each title.
7 A Wrinkle in Time (2018)
Based on the eponymous novel by Madeleine L’Engle, A Wrinkle in Time is a Disney movie that follows the young Meg (Storm Reid) on a quest for her missing father, who was a renowned astrophysicist. He had been studying the Tesseract, a four-dimensional cube that he believes is a method of space travel. A trio of astral travelers reveal to Meg and her brother Charles that it actually exists and that their father had traveled through it and was trapped. If they want to see their father again and save him, they must accompany these travelers out to the far reaches of space, where darkness dwells.
A Well-Intentioned Box Office Misfire
Unfortunately, A Wrinkle in Time was a box office flop. It was a minor to naught box office success, earning $133.2 million against a $100–130 million budget, and received mixed reviews from critics. A lot of criticism was leveled at the story and plot of the movie, with the abstract concepts of the movie not lending themselves to a two-hour feature film narrative. However, DuVernay’s direction did receive some praise as the film had a bold, unique visual flair that was unlike any other blockbuster, even if it didn’t land right with the audience. A Wrinkle in Time is currently streaming on Disney+.
6 This is the Life (2008)
The Los Angeles alternative hip-hop movement flourished in the 1990s and is chronicled in the documentary This is the Life. At the Good Life Café in 1989, a weekly open mic night started where artists were each allowed to perform one song. Some would perform songs written beforehand, while others would freestyle. The community that built up around this night helped people improve their music and turned it into a form of the hip-hop movement as it is known today.
Breakout Documentary
DuVernay put a lot of effort into making her feature-length documentary debut perfect and telling the story just right. This paid off as it was a roaring success, an opening into the industry that would lead the young director toward fiction filmmaking and international success. Many praised the way that DuVernay captured genuine and enthusiastic interviews with the Greats of hip-hop. Upon its debut, This is the Life traveled through many film festivals, including some that were invitation-only, earning several audience awards. The year after it was finished, it even made a theatrical debut, reaching even more audiences. This is the Life is currently streaming on Netflix (leaving soon).
5 I Will Follow (2010)
I Will Follow is all about coming to terms with the death of a loved one. Maye (Salli Richardson), a successful artist, has taken leave from work to take care of her ill Aunt. When she passes, Maye contemplates her relationships, her career, her past, and her future. As the movie progresses through the course of a single day, she goes through a series of twelve visitors who, each in their own way, slowly help her get back on her feet in this quiet, careful film.
Breakout Narrative Feature
The film’s award-winning screenplay was lauded by many, including Roger Ebert, who wrote that the film “is an invitation to empathy.” Beyond being an emotional, intimate film, the movie is special for being DuVernay’s first narrative film after the success of the documentary This is the Life. Although true to herself, DuVernay made sure to give a voice to actors of color, the plot and characters are universally relatable. The story won over the hearts of many who watched it, and it helped propel her into the successful career she has today. I Will Follow is currently streaming on Kanopy.
4 Origin (2023)
Origin
- Release Date
- October 27, 2023
- Runtime
- 2hr 15min
Origin is DuVernay’s latest work, a fiction film based on the New York Time Best-Seller nonfiction book “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents” by Isabel Wilkerson. The work aims to compare racism in the US to the traditional caste system, going to the root of systemic racism as it can be suffered today. The film is a narrative that focuses on author Isabel Wilkerson (Aunjaune Ellis-Taylor) and her journey to write the book, all through the backdrop of comparing various points in history, from the Indian caste system to the American slave trade to the Nazi’s persecution of Jews and how all these ideas are connected. A very powerful scene focuses on book banning and burning, comparing this very real current issue with WWII auto-da-fé.
Powerful Film That Has Gone Underrated
Adapting a thesis is a difficult task, so DuVernay uses her skills as both a documentarian and narrative storyteller to bring this to life. There are plenty of scenes where a character is reciting long excerpts from the novel, dry facts, that are played over truly horrific scenes that show the power of mixing audio and visuals together. While Origin has been praised for its acting and technical achievements, many have seen the movie biting off more than it can chew, and with so many different timelines going on with big speeches, it can be a little off-putting as a narrative experience, but applauding it as an educational tool. Nonetheless, Origin does not shy away from drama and emotion, tackling a big question of modern society for people of color. For general audiences lacking deep knowledge about contemporary racial disparities, it might be a good place to start in DuVernay’s body of work. Origin is currently playing in theaters.
3 Middle of Nowhere (2012)
Middle of Nowhere is set in Compton, California, where Ruby (Emayatzy Corineadli), a registered nurse trying to become a doctor, is dedicating most of her time to visiting her husband, Derek (David Oyelowo), in prison. She’s trying to help him get paroled early, but, as revealed in flashbacks, she doesn’t really know everything that happened leading up to his arrest. She must spend the movie discovering herself as she begins to let go of everything holding her down and move on to bigger and better things. She is torn between staying attached to old promises and moving on with her life.
Growing Talent
Using a similar theme of lost loved ones and grief to I Will Follow, DuVernay also incorporated her skills as a documentary filmmaker by putting lots of research into this film to make it as accurate as she could — albeit with a modest budget and box office. The filmmaker’s efforts paid off, as Middle of Nowhere earned more film festival awards and nominations than her previous movies combined. With a litany of awards from Sundance, the Independent Spirit Awards, and many others for DuVernay, it was clear that she was a talented director and would definitely go even more places in the future. Middle of Nowhere is currently streaming on Kanopy.
2 13th (2016)
13th is another documentary directed by DuVernay, but an incredibly polished one sold to and produced for Netflix. It is titled after the 13th amendment to the United States Constitution, which abolished slavery in the US and ended involuntary servitude except as a punishment for the conviction of a crime. The film takes a closer look at the prison system in the US and how it exploits prisoners and forces them to work for little to nothing — especially people of color.
An Important Documentary
13th is still widely screened in both household and academic settings, as it brings attention to a problem that still persists and one that may have been woefully undermentioned beforehand. DuVernay was praised for how she depicted these events and focused on the facts, bringing them to light and perfectly explaining such a tough subject with excellent interviews and footage. The documentary masterfully draws the lines between the modern prison complex and the American history of slavery. The film won many awards for DuVernay and was nominated for several more, including an Academy Award for Best Documentary. 13th is currently streaming on Netflix.
1 Selma (2014)
Selma
- Release Date
- December 25, 2014
- Runtime
- 127
The historical drama film Selma centers on the 1965 Selma-to-Montgomery voting rights marches, which were led by Martin Luther King Jr. This was a big moment in the civil rights movement as people of color fought for the right to vote. The biographical movie follows Martin Luther King Jr’s involvement in the marches, including his arrest, the strains it was putting on his relationship with his wife, and the difficulties the marches faced due to police opposition.
A Modern Classic
Selma received critical acclaim, with much of the praise given to DuVernay’s incredible direction, which immediately put her on the top of many people’s radar. The filmmaker chose not only to create a biopic on the life of one of the biggest figures of the Civil Rights Movement but to highlight how far his cause still has to go today. Not only is Selma a feat of emotional and impactful directing and acting by David Oyelowo, but it is also an important film. Though it did receive some criticism for a few historical inaccuracies, there’s no doubt that it’s DuVernay’s best film so far. It was nominated for two Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and won Best Original Song for “Glory”. However, there was a great deal of controversy when DuVernay was snubbed for a Best Director nomination. Regardless, the film will remain an important documentation of a piece of American history that needs to be remembered. Selma is currently streaming on Prime Video, Paramount+, and MGM+.
This story originally appeared on Movieweb
