Ava DuVernay Talks ‘A Wrinkle in Time’ and Working in a Male-Dominated Industry at The New Yorker Festival
While at the New Yorker Festival this past Saturday, Ava DuVernay spoke with The New Yorker staff writer, Jelani Cobb, about working in the film industry and her upcoming film, A Wrinkle in Time.
In an industry dominated by white men, DuVernay said, “I work in an industry built on the back of the film The Birth of a Nation. And so you have, you know, a century of work built on a framework that was flawed and that was exclusive to a certain kind of person and mindset.”
DuVernay also shared how she began directing. She told the audience, “I didn’t go to film school. I started when I was a 32-year-old black woman who was a publicist for other people’s movies. And I really did it for the pure love.”
The director also revealed that she is not sure how A Wrinkle in Time will be received by viewers. DuVernay admitted, “I don’t know how it’s going to be received. It is about a girl saving the world, and that girl is a girl of color.”
Ava DuVernay and Storm Reid on set of A Wrinkle in Time (courtesy of Disney)
Of course, DuVernay is speaking of the film’s protagonist, Meg Murry who’s played by newcomer, Storm Reid. Speaking on Meg, DuVernay shared, “She’s like saving the world. She’s saving the world from darkness and in the film, darkness is defined as the darkness within us. She’s saving us from ourselves.”
Despite DuVernay’s success, she said that A Wrinkle in Time was the first film she is nervous about sharing. The director said, “With 13th, I was, ‘You know what. I don’t care. This is what I want to put out. If people get it, they get it. If they don’t, I’m on to the next. With Selma, I was like, ‘You know what, I’m nervous. It’s my first thing that kind of has a faux pas, but I know that I believe in this. I know that this is a record, and it needs to be there. Some other people are going to get this.’ This, I don’t know.”
But regardless of nervousness, DuVernay knew her vision for this film must be seen. DuVernay said, “You’re seeing worlds being built through the point of view of a black woman from Compton. So when I’m told create a planet, my planet is going to look different from my white male counterpart’s planet, who we’ve seen 97 percent of the time.”
Are you excited to see A Wrinkle in Time? Be sure to let us know in the comment section below.
A Wrinkle in Time hits theaters on March 9, 2018!
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
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