Ava DuVernay

Ava Marie DuVernay was born on 24th August, 1972, in the Long Beach city of California, United States of America. She is the daughter of Darlene Maye, who was an educator, and Joseph DuVernay, Jr., who was a businessman. Ava is the eldest of her five brothers and sisters.

She did her schooling from the Saint Joseph High School, Los Angeles County. She graduated from high school in 1990. She pursued her graduation in Bachelors in English and American-African Studies from the California University, LA. She has done a double major in this subject.

Ava was an intern at CBS News and also covered the murder trial of O. J. Simpson. Before starting her career as a director, she held the position of a publicist at Savoy Pictures, FOX, and other such major firms. In 1999, she established her marketing agency called The DuVernay Agency (later: DVA Media + Marketing). This firm marketed more than a hundred movies. DVA has also received an award for its exceptional work.

She decided to take up direction in 2008. She made her directorial debut with This Is the Life. It was a documentary film, based on the hip hop movement in the Los Angeles of the 1990s, and its popular, The Good Life Cafe. She gained major success with her first narrative film, I Will Follow. It was a small budget film, which was made in just fifteen days. The movie was a massive success and received amazing reviews. Later, it was also selected for the AFI Fest and Urbanworld.

One of the most successful works of Ava has been the movie, ‘ Selma Click to look into! >> Read More... ’. It was a historical movie inspired by Selma to Montgomery March of 1965, to demand the right to vote. The movement was headed by human rights activist, Martin Luther King Click to look into! >> Read More... Jr. Ava got the inspiration for making this movie in her childhood days when she used to spend her summers at Alabama, and it was here when her father told her about the marches of Selma. The movie was caught in many controversies, but in spite of it, the movie was a major success and received many nominations and awards.

She has also produced some major shows, like the Queen Sugar, Oprah Winfrey Network, etc. She is also the writer of many shows in the American TV industry.

Ava is the recipient of the African- American Film Critics Award for the Best Screenplay (movie: I Will Follow). She got two Best Director Awards for the movie Selma, by the Black Film Critics Circle, and the Central Ohio Film Critics Association. She was also awarded the Best Woman Director Award from the Alliance of Women Film Journalists, for the movie Selma.