10 Quotes & Sayings By Ava Duvernay

Ava DuVernay is a highly acclaimed director, producer, and screenwriter. She is the first African-American woman to direct a film in a mainstream studio release, and director of the feature film Selma, which was nominated for two Golden Globes and won the Oscar for Best Picture. Her other films include the award-winning documentary 13th and the independent feature Middle of Nowhere. In 2015 she was named executive director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, D.C Read more

She has been recognized by numerous organizations for her work including the Rockefeller Foundation's Bellagio Center in Italy, where she was awarded a Bellagio Medal; the Hollywood Women's Political Committee; and Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People of 2014.

Women have been trained in our culture and society to...
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Women have been trained in our culture and society to ask for what we want instead of taking what we want. We've been really indoctrinated with this culture of permission. But that time has passed. Ava DuVernay
A black woman making art is a disruptive act. Every...
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A black woman making art is a disruptive act. Every story that I tell as a woman is a political act, even if I want to tell a 'silly love story.' The fact it exists through my gaze is radical. Ava DuVernay
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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
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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
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I am honored to be one of this year's Urbanworld ambassadors for the festival's 20th anniversary, joining my friend David Oyelowo. I have always had a special relationship with Urbanworld, back to my days as a festival publicist to previewing my earlier films and now as an ambassador. Ava DuVernay
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Creativity is an energy. It's a precious energy, and it's something to be protected. A lot of people take for granted that they're a creative person, but I know from experience, feeling it in myself, it is a magic; it is an energy. And it can't be taken for granted. Ava DuVernay
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Positive characterizations are complex characterizations. That's all we need to know. They shouldn't be saccharine. They shouldn't feel like medicine. Ava DuVernay
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You know, often films that are deemed positive, nobody wants to see them. Ava DuVernay
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In Hollywood, there is one dominant voice. It is a white, male, straight gaze. When I talk about positive portrayals of black people and women, I'm saying complexity. I'm not saying goody-two-shoes, everything's okay. No. The positive view of me is to see me as I am: the 'good, ' the 'bad, ' the gray. That is a positive portrayal. Ava DuVernay