Ava DuVernay Talks Racism And 'A Wrinkle In Time'
"A Wrinkle in Time" director Ava Marie DuVernay has spoken about her journey towards creating the science fantasy adventure film.
The star-studded movie has been talked about widely. Oprah Winfrey, Reese Witherspoon, Mindy Kaling, and Chris Pine join together for the film adaptation of the best-selling 1997 Madeleine L'Engle book of the same name.
Behind this highly anticipated film is a director who has not yet reached two decades in the entertainment industry. According to the New York Times, DuVernay was already 32 years old when she had first picked up a camera.
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DuVernay did not have a film degree, and her being a black woman made it even harder for her to enter the very exclusive industry of film. But, DuVernay surprised people when she won her first award at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival for her second feature film "Middle of Nowhere."
This victory led DuVernay to be the first ever African-American woman to win the Best Director award at the festival. DuVernay said in her acceptance speech that is was important for her to showcase the talents of women of color.
In 2014, DuVernay was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for her movie "Selma." This was also the first time a black female director was nominated for the said award. The movie also led her to be the first-ever black female director to have a movie nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture.
Three years later, her film "13th" was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.
With all these achievements, DuVernay managed to have a budget that would exceed more than a hundred million dollars for "A Wrinkle in Time."
"I was shocked that they called me," said DuVernay, told the New York Times. "How did they even think that would work? But they did. And when they said I could make her a girl of color, it just grabbed my whole heart."
"The chance to put a black girl in flight? I will risk it. I risk it for those images. It may not hit now, but somewhere a Mindy Kaling, a chubby girl with glasses and brown skin will see it and it will mean something," she added.
The film, which made DuVernay the first black woman to direct a live-action film with that big of a budget, is set to be released today by Walt Disney Pictures in Disney Digital 3-D, Real D 3D, and IMAX.
