Let’s acknowledge that Maggie McGrath has done it yet again! Such a sensational interview with the lovely Ava DuVernay! Eloquent and brilliant exchange between the two. Great questions for Ava, allowing her to deliver such a concise response throughout the conversation!
Nothing I love more than hearing from brilliant minds at work sharing their first-hand experiences. I'm truly intrigued by how it all comes together than the process itself. Hey Ava, I don't think you ever see this but you're such an inspiration to me as a scriptwriter and a cinematographer who dreams of one day making movies/ TV shows. I hope I end up making my kind of cinema and having something all to myself more than just a legacy on paper. Here's to the best and the future. With love, hard work, and action in 1.2.3 🎬 ❤ 🙏
I wish Ava would have spoken the names of some of pioneering Black women directors like: Julie Dash, Debbie Allen, Euzhan Palcy, Madeline Anderson, Neema Barnette. All of these women have created and or directed films. Ava stands on their shoulders even if she did not have them has mentors. Our success and our failures are linked.
So nice when she says we should own what's in our heads. Including when to try again, to take one step, to walk across the room! I had a knee operation not too long ago. A shower was an achievement
20:36 -21:37 brought me to tears!!! EMPOWERING words!!! Ms. DuVernay's spirit is as bright as her outfit!!! Inspiration is an understatement!! Blessings to you and the important and lovely stories you tell!!
Loved this interview so much!! from the insight on the funding side and all also Ava's point on the importance of access to view films in various formats, soo key!!!
15:28 - 15:45 🥲 This resonated all to well. I, at age 29 have always yearned to be listed under the Forbes 30 under 30 list! But hearing that the 50 over 50 is an even cooler group of people gives me more hope to make it there 😄
This was a good, brief interview. Though the last question about advice is generally answered the same way from established filmmakers (has been for generations). I think we should reframe the question as interviewers to be: what advice would you give to yourself when you were making your first film?
YES, YES, YES! We need an extended video seminar in an auditorium for future Black filmmakers so they can learn how to make mid-budget Black filmmaking and stop asking major (White) studios and begging Tyler Perry to raise his game up. Let's set up as many independent studios as possible!
Anyone remember when she was supposed to direct Black Panther and they removed her from the production because she wanted to tell the story that Cap and Iron Man were racist villains fighting T’Challa? The MCU dodged a bullet getting rid of her…
Right lol...tell me somebody! Also, her first film had some good name actors...so she must have been connected coming into the industry or had a lot of money.
If the MAGA folks could actually understand what the disenfranchised of America have actually already survived they would then better understand why we are not going back ever. And why it isn't up to them.💙
I hear the words "different" a lot but everything she produces feels the same. Different deliveries, but same imagery, same narrative, same stories. Is that the "difference" she's referring to?
I haven't see all of her works, but oddly, she LOOKS quite different. Her lovely dimples seem to have disappeared and her facial muscles seem different..constricted, less relaxed/natural. She's still beautiful, something just seems off about her face and facial expressions.
@iammilorex I will give her credit for delivering a good movie. Critically, it did well, but please.... the movie was a box office bomb. It lost the studio/investors a lot of money. Budget: 40M, Box office 5M, that's like a 40M loss if you take in count all the other expenses
And that's all the studios care about. The bottom dollar. Art is more than that. The American audience has been given many simplistic movies with little value, so FILMS are not well received. That's why many international films are so much better, but rarely seen by American audiences. Your comment and perspective prove that perfectly.
You GO SisterQueen!! 50 over 50, thats whassup!!! Congratulations for following your dreams and expanding your own possibilities. Thank you for being an example to us all. ❤️🫶🏽🙏🏽👸🏽🎉🎉🎉🎉 #BlackBruinsRock