Ava DuVernay Interview: Capturing Black Life & The Timeless Relevance of Gordon Parks

Ava DuVernay discusses Gordon Parks’s ability to connect, the importance of his 1969 film The Learning Tree, how he changed Hollywood and the relevance of his work today.

Ava DuVernay is a writer, producer, director and distributor of independent film. She is a winner of the Emmy, BAFTA and Peabody Awards and an Academy award nominee. Her directorial work includes the historical drama Selma, the criminal justice documentary 13th, and Disney’s A Wrinkle In Time, which made her the highest grossing black woman director in American box office history. For television, she wrote and directed When They See Us, based on the infamous case of The Central Park Five. Winner of the 2012 Sundance Film Festival’s Best Director Prize for her micro-budget film Middle of Nowhere, DuVernay amplifies the work of people of color and women of all kinds through her non-profit film collective Array.

From the HBO / Kunhardt Film Foundation (KFF) Documentary "A Choice of Weapons: Inspired by Gordon Parks" that follows Parks' career, from staff photographer for LIFE magazine through his artistic development and evolution as a novelist and filmmaker.

Subscribe for access to interviews, series, films, and educational materials that address issues of social justice, history, politics, the arts, and culture by spotlighting relatable human stories of purpose and meaning. Learn about our work and how to support our mission here: https://www.lifestories.org/. For extended versions of these interviews and more, visit: @lifestoriesinterviewarchive

Follow us on Instagram: Instagram: lifestoriesinterviews

Ava DuVernay, Filmmaker
Interviewed By: John Maggio
Interview Date: September 11 , 2020

© Home Box Office and Kunhardt Film Foundation. All Rights Reserved.