Ava DuVernay is an Academy Award nominee and winner of Emmy, BAFTA, Sundance, Image and Peabody Awards. Her films include Selma, the first film directed by an African-American woman to be nominated for a Best Picture Oscar; 13th, which made her the first African-American woman to be nominated for an Oscar in a feature directing category; Middle of Nowhere, which earned her Sundance’s Best Director Prize; and Disney’s A Wrinkle in Time, which made her the highest-grossing Black woman director in American box office history. DuVernay’s four-part series When They See Us was honored with 16 Emmy nominations. Her critically acclaimed series Queen Sugar took its place in history as the longest-running Black family drama series with 88 episodes across seven seasons. With her latest feature film Origin, she made history again as the first African-American woman director to compete at the Venice Biennale in its 100-year history.A champion of independent voices, DuVernay founded the narrative change collective ARRAY in 2011, recipient of the Peabody Institutional Award. She was awarded an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from Morehouse College and Yale University. Her portrait was commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery in recognition of her impact on American culture, and she received the Smithsonian Great Americans Medal in 2025.DuVernay serves on the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, representing the directors branch, and holds leadership roles with the Directors Guild of America and the American Film Institute advisory boards. Her cultural influence is showcased with the making of a sold-out Ava DuVernay Barbie doll, a Funko Pop figurine, and a custom Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavor. She lives and works in her hometown of Los Angeles, California.
Ava DuVernay is an Academy Award nominee and winner of Emmy, BAFTA, Sundance, Image and Peabody Awards. Her films include Selma, the first film directed by an African-American woman to be nominated for a Best Picture Oscar; 13th, which made her the first African-American woman to be nominated for an Oscar in a feature directing category; Middle of Nowhere, which earned her Sundance’s Best Director Prize; and Disney’s A Wrinkle in Time, which made her the highest-grossing Black woman director in American box office history. DuVernay’s four-part series When They See Us was honored with 16 Emmy nominations. Her critically acclaimed series Queen Sugar took its place in history as the longest-running Black family drama series with 88 episodes across seven seasons. With her latest feature film Origin, she made history again as the first African-American woman director to compete at the Venice Biennale in its 100-year history.A champion of independent voices, DuVernay founded the narrative change collective ARRAY in 2011, recipient of the Peabody Institutional Award. She was awarded an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from Morehouse College and Yale University. Her portrait was commissioned by the National Portrait Gallery in recognition of her impact on American culture, and she received the Smithsonian Great Americans Medal in 2025.DuVernay serves on the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, representing the directors branch, and holds leadership roles with the Directors Guild of America and the American Film Institute advisory boards. Her cultural influence is showcased with the making of a sold-out Ava DuVernay Barbie doll, a Funko Pop figurine, and a custom Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavor. She lives and works in her hometown of Los Angeles, California.
