“I’m going to put my time and effort into what I’ve continued to do, which is building ARRAY, building independent systems, building disruptive systems, and to put my focus on a garden that will grow and blossom. I feel like I’m reaching for something new.”
-Ava DuVernay, episode 357 of Talk Easy with Sam Fragoso
Over the past 15 years, filmmaker Ava DuVernay (Selma, Queen Sugar) has become something of an institution in Hollywood. As a writer, director, and producer she’s worked to make our industry more just and diverse—creating opportunities for voices that have historically been underrepresented both in front and behind the camera. In many ways her latest film, Origin, examines a hierarchy she’s worked to upend through a bold body of work.
And so we begin today’s episode discussing her creative adaptation of Isabel Wilkerson’s best-selling book, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents (7:30) and the timely questions she hopes to pose as we begin 2024 (11:35). Then, Ava reflects on the influence of her Aunt Denise (17:42), what a typical Saturday looked like in the DuVernay household (21:56), her formative years as an underground emcee at UCLA (28:55), and how working on Michael Mann’s Collateral (34:33) inspired her to direct.
On the back-half, we talk about the making of Ava’s first narrative feature I Will Follow (38:46), a life-changing review from Roger Ebert (44:42) and the resulting decade as a director (49:15). We also wade through this past year in Hollywood (56:00), her hopes for ARRAY in the years to come (1:04:06), and the words of Angela Davis that keep her moving forward (1:06:00).
For questions, comments, or to join our mailing list, reach me at sf@talkeasypod.com.
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Show-notes:
- Find tickets to see Ava DuVernay’s new film Origin.
- Learn more about Ava’s multi-platform arts and social impact collective ARRAY.
- Watch more of her previous work in Queen Sugar, When They See Us, A Wrinkle in Time, 13th, Selma, and This Is the Life.
- Read Caste: The Origins of our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson.
- Follow Ava DuVernay on Instagram and Twitter.
- For more conversations, hear our talks with Tessa Thompson, Steven Soderbergh, Jelani Cobb, Natasha Lyonne, and Jon Bernthal.
- Order your Talk Easy mug in cream and navy or our vinyl record with Fran Lebowitz.
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Original illustration by Krishna Shenoi. Reference image by Erik Carter.
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