This week for Woman Crush Wednesday, we pay homage to an amazing female film maker whose work is bringing about change in the media industry and shedding light on political and social issues of the past and present. Ava Duvernay is this week’s #WCW!
Duvernay is the first African American woman to be nominated for a Golden Globe and Critics Choice Award. Many people know her for being the creative mind behind the film Selma, for which she received such a prestigious nomination. But Ava has also directed a few other award-worthy films including: I Will Follow and Middle of Nowhere— the film for which she won the award “Best Director” at the Sundance Film Festival in 2012 (both movies can be found on Netflix). Besides creating films, Ava is also a very outspoken activist when it comes to the black community, and an avid supporter of black film makers (Check out the praise she recently gave to F. Gary Gray, the director of the NWA biopic, Straight Outta Compton). She’s even an advocate for AFFRM, African American Film Festival Releasing Movement, which supports black film makers and their work.
Earlier this year Ava Duvernay spoke at the SXSW Festival and said, “If your dream is only about you, it is too small.” Duvernay deserves to be this week’s WCW because she encourages people to live their dreams, make an impact on the world, and make it a better place for the people around them. She pushes the boundaries of the status quo in film making not just by making and supporting movies about minorities in America, but by living and breathing the change that her work embodies.