I spent a whole 12 years helping other people tell their stories as a publicist, so just to be able to go and write and get behind the camera, that’s my thing. Ava DuVernay Read Quote
Any film that you see that has any progressive spirits that is made by any people of color or a woman is a triumph in and of itself. Whether you agree with it or not. Something that comes with some point of view and some personal perspective from a woman or a person of color is a unicorn. Ava DuVernay Read Quote
One of the reasons why I created the podcast called the ‘The Call-In’ that we do through Array – because as a black artist, every time I sit down with mainstream media, I’m asked about issues of race, identity and culture. No one asked what they ask my white male counterparts, which is: ‘Where do you like to put the camera?’ Ava DuVernay Read Quote
Many hated ‘Selma.’ Just because my voice and the voice of the people I come from is antithetical to so much of what Hollywood produces. I don’t think what I’m saying is in particular radical or anything; it’s just different from what they want to sell. Ava DuVernay Read Quote
The best art is realized when you can share the experience of making of it and not just the presentation of it, so that the audience is part of the creation and not just part of the consumption. Then it becomes much more full-bodied and robust. Ava DuVernay Read Quote
There was a time when I was knocking on doors and concerned with being recognized in dominant culture. I’ve found a space where the terrain is different, where I’m embraced by people like me, and where I’m building new ways of doing things, as opposed to trying to insert myself in a place that might not be welcoming. Ava DuVernay Read Quote
I don’t even really see sit-ins and marches as passive. I see them as quite assertive. I see those as emotionally aggressive tactics. I see people putting their lives on the line and being bold and brave. Ava DuVernay Read Quote
Oh gosh, I’m completely allergic to historical dramas. Particularly those around the civil-rights movement. It’s not my favorite thing to watch. So often they feel like medicine. Or not even a history lesson, because I really like history. Just… obligatory. Ava DuVernay Read Quote
My interest as an artist is to illuminate the lives of black folks. I definitely am focused on films that illustrate all that we are and all our nuance and all our complicated beauty and mess, and when you’re telling those stories, you gotta have black actors. Ava DuVernay Read Quote
