Ava DuVernay, Filmmaker

Ava DuVernay is an acclaimed award-winning director and writer. Her film, Selma, about voting rights in the 1960s, earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture. DuVernay's other notable film, Middle of Nowhere, she wrote, produced and directed. The film earned her the award for best director at 2012's Sundance Film Festival. Film critic Roger Ebert hailed her 2010 narrative feature, I Will Follow as ""one of the best films I've seen about the loss of a loved one."" Her film expertise also includes documentaries, such as hip hop documentary This is the Life and Venus VS for ESPN. DuVernay is the founder of AFFRM, the African American Film Festival Releasing Movement. She is a member to both the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences along with the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. She sits on the board of Film Independent and the Sundance Institute. DuVernay is a UCLA graduate and currently lives in Los Angeles. ""Ava DuVernay is an acclaimed award-winning director and writer. Her film, Selma, about voting rights in the 1960s, earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Picture. DuVernay's other notable film, Middle of Nowhere, she wrote, produced and directed. The film earned her the award for best director at 2012's Sundance Film Festival. Film critic Roger Ebert hailed her 2010 narrative feature, I Will Follow as ""one of the best films I've seen about the loss of a loved one."" Her film expertise also includes documentaries, such as hip hop documentary This is the Life and Venus VS for ESPN. DuVernay is the founder of AFFRM, the African American Film Festival Releasing Movement. She is a member to both the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences along with the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. She sits on the board of Film Independent and the Sundance Institute. DuVernay is a UCLA graduate and currently lives in Los Angeles.