My in-depth interview with filmmaker whose credits include the movie Selma, the documentary 13th, and the TV series “Queen Sugar”.

Little did I know when I interviewed Ava DuVernay in 2013, she would become one of the most important voices in many of the cultural conversations gripping America today. At the time of our conversation, Ava had recently made history as the first African-American woman to win the Best Director Prize at Sundance, honored with the 2013 John Cassavetes Spirit Award, and the Tribeca Film Institute’s Affinity Award for her second feature film Middle of Nowhere.

In 2010, she wrote, produced and directed her first narrative feature, I Will Follow. Released theatrically in 2011, the family drama was hailed by critic Roger Ebert as “… one of the best films I’ve seen about the loss of a loved one.”

Subsequently, Ava went on to direct the 2014 movie Selma and the 2017 film A Wrinkle in Time. In addition, she directed, produced, and wrote the must-see documentary 13th. If that’s not enough, she has been a writer and producer of the hit OWN series Queen Sugar and the acclaimed mini-series When They See Us. Her most recent film is Origin.

In our hour-plus conversation, Ava and I discussed her professional background, her two indie films I Will Follow and Middle of Nowhere, and her…