Ava DuVernay is no stranger to making history. She’s the first black woman to be nominated for a best director Golden Globe (Selma), she’s the first black woman to win a best director prize at Sundance, and the first black female director to have her film be nominated for an Oscar. And, now, DuVernay is the first black woman to helm a $100 million movie, A Wrinkle in Time.
While it’s a beautiful thing to celebrate these historic wins, it’s bittersweet because it’s 2018, and we’re still labeling black women (and men) as firsts when this ground should have already been broken.
Full Disclosure: Disney spent all the coins to invite The Root out to Los Angeles to watch the film on the Disney lot and to interview the star-studded cast. I think before they even hit send, I was saying, “Yasss!”
But thanks to people like DuVernay, black talent is changing the minds of stubborn Hollywood. Budgets and opportunities are opening up for many to follow in DuVernay’s footsteps.
When I asked DuVernay how she felt about the responsibility of being a history-making director, she said it wasn’t a weight, but, instead, “it feels like a blessing.”
Check out the video of Ava DuVernay chatting about making history with A Wrinkle in Time. And go see A Wrinkle in Time on March 9 in theaters everywhere!