Arts & Entertainment
Director Ava DuVernay: The ‘Selma’ Interview
A
va DuVernay is a writer, producer,
director and distributor of independ-
ent film. Winner of the Best
Director Award at the 2012 Sundance Film
Festival, Ava was honored with the 2013
John Cassavetes Independent Spirit Award
and the Tribeca Film Institute 2013 Affinity
Award for her second feature film, Middle
of Nowhere.
She made her directorial debut with the
critically-acclaimed 2008 hip hop docu-
mentary, This is The Life. A couple years
later, she wrote, produced and directed her
first narrative feature, I Will Follow, star-
ring
Salli
Richardson-Whitfield.
Prior to directing, Ava founded DVA Media
+ Marketing in 1999, and worked as a film
publicist for over a dozen years. Her award-
winning firm provided strategy and
execution for more than 120 film and televi-
sion campaigns for such industry icons as
Steven Spielberg, Clint Eastwood and
Michael Mann.
The UCLA grad is the founder of
AFFRM, the African-American Film Festi-
val Releasing Movement. And she is a
member of the Academy of Motion Picture
Arts and Sciences, as well as the Academy
of Television Arts & Sciences, as well as a
board member of both Film Independent
and
the
Sundance
Institute.
Here, she talks about her new film, Selma,
C ELEBRITY
I NTERVIEW
by Kam
Williams
about Roger in the movie.
KW: Editor/Legist Patricia Turnier asks:
Why was it important for you to bring this
story about Selma to the big screen?
AD: Because there’s never been a film
with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. at the cen-
ter released in theaters. Ever! One does not
exist. You’ve only seen tele-films and stage
plays about him. Yet, we have big screens
biopics about all kinds of people. So, I think
it’s only right that there be a full-length fea-
ture about Dr. King. I don’t think there
could be enough of them, but there should
be at least one. So, here it is!
KW: Patricia also says: The contributions
of many black women to the movement,
including Coretta Scott King, haven’t been
credited enough. Will the audience learn
more about this aspect of history in your
There are a lot of sisters there who contributed
to the fabric of the Civil Rights Movement
which has been nominated for four Golden
Globes, including Best Director.
Kam Williams: Hey, Ava, long time-no
speak.
Ava DuVernay: It sure has been awhile,
Kam. How are you?
KW: I’m great. How about you? Congrats
on the Golden Globe nominations, and with
the Oscars just over the horizon!
AD: I don’t know about that, but it’s been
a nice ride so far.
KW: I was surprised to see you in Life
Itself, the documentary about Roger Ebert,
and to learn that an encouraging encounter
with him as an adolescent had been such a
big influence on your life.
AD: He was such a champion of under-
represented filmmakers. He was a very big
deal to me. It shows the power of critics.
People who write about film, like you, can
really affect the confidence of a young film-
maker. He did that for me, so it was such a
pleasure to have an opportunity to talk
picture? In other words, did you bring your
perspective as a black female to directing
Selma?
AD: Yes, Patricia, it was vital to me to
include woman characters, and Coretta
Scott King [played by Carmen Ejogo] is a
prominent one. There’s a full arc where
she’s painted, and you get to see behind the
veil of her quiet dignity. Another character
is Amelia Boynton [played by Lorraine
Toussaint], a freedom-fighter who’s still
alive and 104 years-old. She’s the woman
who invited Dr. King to Selma. Oprah Win-
frey plays Annie Lee Cooper, a woman who
tried to register to vote five times, but was
rejected and humiliated every time, and had
a very infamous tussle with the local sheriff
in Selma that landed on President Johnson’s
desk through the newspaper accounts.
Richie Jean Jackson [played by Niecy
Nash] and Diane Nash [played by Tessa
Thompson] are also in the film. There are a
lot of sisters there who contributed to the
fabric of the Civil Rights Movement.
KW: Lastly, Patricia says: The interview
you did in the past with Kam Williams was
Oprah winfrey plays Annie lee Cooper, a woman who tried to register to vote
five times, and had an infamous tussle with the local sheriff in Selma.
translated into Spanish on my trilingual
webmag. Will Selma be available in movie
theaters in French and/or Spanish? I have a
friend, a beautiful sister who is deaf and
mute, who would like to see Selma. Will it
be shown in theaters with special glasses so
the deaf can watch it with subtitles?
AD: Yes, the film will be subtitled in
some French and Spanish-speaking coun-
tries around the world, but I don’t know
whether it will be subtitled for the deaf.
KW: Environmental activist Grace Sinden
says: Congratulations on the Golden Globes
nomination for directing Selma. I cannot
wait to see it. We know that it is difficult
for women to move up in many fields but
this issue has recently received much focus,
especially in terms of Hollywood directors.
What advice do you have for women trying
to break the glass ceiling? Can you share
your thoughts on this issue? Was it any more
difficult for you personally?
AD: Ignore the glass ceiling and do your
work. If you’re focusing on the glass ceil-
ing, focusing on what you don’t have,
focusing on the limitations, then you will be
limited. My way was to work, make my
short… make my documentary… make my
small films… use my own money… raise
money myself… and stay shooting and
focused on each project.
KW: Editor Lisa Loving says there have
been thousands of people marching in cities
all across the country since the Missouri
police officer who killed Michael Brown
was not charged in his death. In our town,
See DUVERNAY on page 11
December 24, 2014 The Portland and Seattle Skanner Page 9