AVA DUVERNAY
When Pulitzer Prize winner Isabel Wilkerson was working on her 2020 New York Times bestseller, “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents,” the author was hit with a series of traumatic events. As if exploring centuries of global caste wasn’t enough, Wilkerson had to manage strife and loss in her own backyard. The film, “Origin,” follows her life through this turbulent, yet triumphant time.
Starring Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Neicy Nash-Betts and Jon Bernthal, “Origin” writer and director Ava DuVernay gently holds our hands through a cinematic journey of history, storytelling, and devastating truths. The flight from knowing racism and understanding caste keeps viewers on the edge of their seats until the very end.
This, coupled with the everyday life of a modern-day literary genius, cements itself as a must-watch for both oppressors and the oppressed.
[perfectpullquote align=”full” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””] ‘I made this film for people who are struggling with their place in the world.’ – Ava DuVernay [/perfectpullquote]
One of the film’s strengths lies in creating cinematic examples of some of society’s darkest shadows—slavery, African diaspora, the Holocaust, and the Indian caste system. “Origin,” which is now playing in theaters such as the Waterfront (Homestead) and The Manor (Squirrel Hill), is a scholarly exploration that weaves together life, lessons, and love.
Just to give you a refresher of exactly who Ava DuVernay is…remember the 2014 biopic “Selma,” about the 1965 Selma to Montgomery voting rights marches, which starred David Oyelowo as Dr. King? Yep, Ava DuVernay, a Black woman, was the director. The film was nominated for Best Picture at the 87th Academy Awards.
Before then and since then, DuVernay has been nominated or won all kinds of awards, including an Emmy Award for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special (13th), and numerous NAACP Image and Sundance Film Festival awards. But Ava DuVernay, 51, can’t be regulated to just writer and director. While these titles are glamorous for any Hollywood figure, her ability to take someone’s life, transcribe it for a movie, and then travel the world to bring these stories to the big screens is momentous.
I spoke with DuVernay, the Academy Award nominee, in advance of her new film, “Origin.” In the interview, DuVernay has a message for casters, talks to me exclusively about working in India, and invites everyone to watch the film.
“It’s not made to convince, it’s an invitation to explore, and I look forward to the people who accept,” she said.
There’s much more that we discussed, and I’d like you to watch the full interview.
