Ava DuVernay's work as a director and producer has done a lot to highlight Black voices and experiences in an industry traditionally dominated by white perspectives. DuVernay, who started in Hollywood by making independent feature films, is now a Golden Globe and Oscar-nominated filmmaker best known for documentaries and historical dramas.
DuVernay is also an accomplished TV showrunner, director, and producer. In fact, her next project is the much-anticipated dystopian series DMZ, based on the comic book series of the same name by Brian Wood. While a release date has yet to be set, DMZ will premiere on HBO Max at some point in the near future.
Saturday Night Life (2006) - 6.0
An early effort from DuVernay, Saturday Night Life is a short drama starring Melissa De Sousa. De Sousa plays a single mother in Los Angeles who takes her three children out for the night.
Due to their mom's limited funds, the family's big venture involves going to the dollar store. What seems like a modest outing, thanks to DuVernay's touching narrative style, turns into an uplifting experience for De Sousa's character and her kids.
I Will Follow (2010) - 6.0
I Will Follow is DuVernay's first feature-length film. Written, produced, and directed by DuVernay, it follows a young artist named Maye (Salli Richardson-Whitfield) in the day after the aunt she'd been taking care of passes away. Maye, in her grief, crosses paths with a series of visitors who offer up different kinds of advice to her.
The film also stars Omari Hardwick as Maye's love interest, Troy. Despite its low-budget, I Will Follow showcases DuVernay's talent for weaving together compelling, intimate stories about people.
This Is The Life (2008) - 6.1
DuVernay's homage to rap music, This is the Life centers around Los Angeles's alternative hip-hop scene, which originated in the 1990s. Much of the documentary's action takes place at the former Good Life Cafe, a health food store that hosted a weekly open mic night.
It was the Good Life Cafe's open mic every Thursday night where aspiring emcees shared rhymes, workshopped, and learned to hone their skills. Artists like The Pharcyde, Biz Markie, Fat Joe, Skee-Lo, and Jurassic 5 were all affiliated with this iconic creative breeding ground.
Middle Of Nowhere (2012) - 6.4
Middle of Nowhere is DuVernay's second feature film, made for just $200,000. Emayatzy Corinealdi stars as Ruby, a nurse whose life is turned upside down when her husband Derek (Omari Hardwick) is sentenced to eight years in prison. Ruby quits her job in order to focus on Derek's needs while incarcerated, which causes her to become isolated from her personal life and ambitions.
Ruby begins to learn more about things Derek has tried to hide from her, causing her to question her choices. Enter bus driver Brian (David Oyelowo), who gives Ruby an opportunity to see what a healthy relationship looks like.
Nine For IX: Venus Vs. (2013) - 7.3
ESPN Films is responsible for the compelling Nine for IX series, a play on Title IX -- the federal civil rights legislation that created more opportunities for women in sports. Each episode explores the life of a different female sports star.
The episode on tennis legend Venus Williams, Venus Xs., was directed by DuVernay. In addition to her victories on the court, the episode digs into her efforts to make sure female tennis competitors earn the same winnings as their male counterparts.
Selma (2014) - 7.5
DuVernay broke into the mainstream in a major way when she adapted Paul Webb's screenplay, Selma, for the big screen. Selma explores the events leading up to 1965's Selma to Montgomery march, which turned violent on Sunday, March 7 when police attacked demonstrators as they crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge.
Selma's ensemble cast includes David Oyelowo as Martin Luther King, Jr., Tom Wilkinson as President Johnson, and Carmen Ejogo as Coretta Scott King. It brought a critical moment in American history to movie theatres across the world.
Queen Sugar (2016 - Present) - 7.7
An intergenerational family drama set in Louisiana, Queen Sugar focuses on three siblings from their father's sudden death. The Bordelon children must also figure out what to do with their father's massive sugarcane farm.
The siblings are played by True Blood's Rutina Wesley, Dawn-Lyen Gardner, and Kofi Siriboe. DuVernay not only created Queen Sugar, which is still airing on the Oprah Winfrey Network; she also produces, writes, and directs episodes.
Scandal (2012 - 2018) - 7.7
In 2013, DuVernay directed an episode from the third season of the popular ABC thriller Scandal. The show stars Kerry Washington as Olivia Pope, who runs a crisis management firm in Washington, D.C., and eventually falls in love with the President, Fitzgerald Grant III (Tony Goldwyn).
DuVernay directed the Scandal episode "Vermont is for Lovers." In the episode, Olivia and Fitz visit a home in Vermont, a home Fitz hopes they can grow old together in one day.
13th (2016) - 8.3
13th is a harrowing Netflix documentary that seeks to understand why so many Black people, especially Black men, have passed through America's criminal justice system. DuVernay, who co-wrote the film with Spencer Averick, looks at the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution for answers.
She shows, through interviews with historians and activists, how the amendment, which abolished slavery and involuntary servitude except as a punishment for a crime. This exception led to the mass criminalization of Black lives through mass incarceration, a problem that persists well past the Jim Crow era.
When They See Us (2019) - 8.9
DuVernay's four-part miniseries about the Central Park Five is a scathing indictment of the American criminal justice system. In 1989, five young men of color were falsely accused of assaulting a female jogger in Central Park, leading to a highly-publicized case that perpetuated terrible racial stereotypes.
When They See Us combines procedural tropes with historically accurate depictions of what these young men endured. The ensemble drama earned praise for its engrossing performances and timely themes.