Ava DuVernay

I think there are a lot of people in this industry that have the ability, that have the position, they have the…

— Ava DuVernay

I thing for female filmmakers a big issue is making their second and third films. You see the statistics, and the dropoff…

— Ava DuVernay

I didn't go to film school. I got my education on the set as a niche publicist in the film industry.

— Ava DuVernay

We have to find new ways to work without permission, new ways to turn corners and go through doors that are closed…

— Ava DuVernay

It sounds kind of flighty, filmmaker-y, but I believe films are a piece of art. They are meant to be what they're…

— Ava DuVernay

I've passed along some advice that Oprah [Winfrey] gave to me: When something bad is happening, it's not happening to you; it's…

— Ava DuVernay

Be passionate and move forward with gusto every single hour of every single day until you reach your goal.

— Ava DuVernay

We've had these bursts of cool years here or there but that's not change. That's a trend. You only hope that this…

— Ava DuVernay

I know how to make films and now I'm able to make films with the resources and the tools that match my…

— Ava DuVernay

I think good publicists are just like good mommies - always looking out, making sure folks are comfortable and making sure that…

— Ava DuVernay

All the traditional models for doing things are collapsing; from music to publishing to film, and it's a wide open door for…

— Ava DuVernay

Usually, you have two people in a scene, and in the history of cinema the hero is most likely going to be…

— Ava DuVernay

We're told that independent film lovers... folks that are used to watching art house films, won't come out and see a film…

— Ava DuVernay

There’s something very important about films about black women and girls being made by black women. It’s a different perspective. It is…

— Ava DuVernay

I'm not the most athletic gal, but because making a movie is very physical, I slow down on the Krispy Kreme and…

— Ava DuVernay

I've been to Sundance eight times as a publicist and thought I was very prepared. I mean, who could've been more prepared…

— Ava DuVernay

Most of us think prison is a place where bad people go - which is what I thought for a long time…

— Ava DuVernay

All these women had directed movies that I loved on the film festival circuit, but couldn't get a job making television. That's…

— Ava DuVernay

If your work is solid, it really doesn't matter what people you know because good work starts to rise to the top.

— Ava DuVernay

I wish I could be the black woman Soderbergh, and put the camera on my shoulder and shoot beautifully while I directed.

— Ava DuVernay

Folks can look at this issue and read it and it can feel like medicine, it can feel epidemic. We wanted this…

— Ava DuVernay

Ignore the glass ceiling and do your work. If you're focusing on the glass ceiling, focusing on what you don't have, focusing…

— Ava DuVernay

The idea that we criminalize fellow human beings based on optics, based on the need to progress in politics and gain power,…

— Ava DuVernay

A lot of work was done with one of my best friends and editor, Spencer Averick, who's edited everything I've ever made…

— Ava DuVernay

I love making films. I'm happiest when I'm doing it. For me, the fear is not being able to make the next…

— Ava DuVernay

Roger Ebert was such a champion of underrepresented filmmakers. He was a very big deal to me. It shows the power of…

— Ava DuVernay

The documentaries were something that I could do for a small amount of money, and then I felt like as long as…

— Ava DuVernay

What we tried to do in 13th was get to the bottom of that. What were they motivated by? But certainly the…

— Ava DuVernay

I was talking to Shonda Rhimes the other day and I said, "I. Do. Not. Know. How. You. Do. This." While we're…

— Ava DuVernay

I know when we were making the film [ Age Of Trump] that we knew that there was going to be some…

— Ava DuVernay

We [Americans] know Martin Luther King Jr. as a statue. We know him as a holiday. We know him as a speech.…

— Ava DuVernay

Black people loving and losing is something we don’t see enough of. We’re always in these heightened situations like something big is…

— Ava DuVernay

I did not have any problem with speaking up because my mother, my family, my grandmother, my aunt - I grew up…

— Ava DuVernay

To pretend like Hollywood is anything other than that is disingenuous. #OscarsSoWhite is trendy, but for women filmmakers and filmmakers of color,…

— Ava DuVernay

I mean, if this [film Age of Trump] wasn't on Netflix, it would be playing at some lovely art house theater on…

— Ava DuVernay

I think it's a wonderful time to be a black woman who makes films. It's a good time to be an artist…

— Ava DuVernay

For film, you know, the Tarantinos and Nolans of the world who are very focused on a certain kind of film aesthetic…

— Ava DuVernay