Movies

Ava DuVernay advocates for 'balanced' Hollywood amid another Oscars diversity disappointment


PASADENA, Calif. – Ava DuVernay is tired. 

The acclaimed filmmaker is witness to yet another year of disappointment and controversy stemming from a lack of diversity in the Oscar nominations announced Monday. DuVernay has been at the center of the conversation about Hollywood inclusion that began to gather steam when she was snubbed for a directing Oscar nomination for 2014’s “Selma.” 

When asked about the 2020 nominations, which received criticism for a lack of racial diversity in acting and an all-male directing field, DuVernay expressed her exhaustion. 

“I’m so tired of it,” she told USA TODAY Thursday, before noting that we can’t quite just ignore the Oscars entirely. “We care about it because it’s a mark of distinction around the world. I think that we need to care about it in a balanced way. It’s not the end-all be-all; it’s not the arbiter of good taste or achievement.

“It’s a lovely thing that’s a cherry on top of the work. I think that we, as artists, need to calibrate how much we care. We can care. But how much we care?” DuVernay continued. “And that calibration is going to come when the Oscars is part of a just industry and a balanced industry. Right now, it matters so much because there’s so much imbalance.”

The Oscars mean more to the industry than just recognizing quality work: They have financial ramifications for the people behind the movies. 

“You get so much attention if you get an Oscar nomination, more money,” she said. “And so there are economic factors and political factors that go beyond just who gets to take the stage.”

Meanwhile, in her television work, the director is putting her energy into stories of love. She has a new series on OWN Feb. 11, “Cherish the Day,” an anthology about significant days in the relationship of one couple.

DuVernay explained that she wanted to do something new. 

“I just needed a break from history,” she told reporters at the Television Critics Association, referring to “Selma,” about Martin Luther King, Jr., and “When They See Us,” the Netflix miniseries about the so-called Central Park Five. “I just wanted to do something lovely and light and just interrogate a different subject matter: love and how it affects us all. (I) really craved the black romantic endeavor.”

More: BET Awards: The Central Park Five, introduced as Exonerated Five, get standing ovation



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