Here’s a little experiment: name a guy who directs movies.

I said just one.

Okay, stop.

You can stop naming names any time now. Thank you.

Okay, now: name a Black woman who’s a feature film director.

Anyone?

Regina King, maybe?  Kasi Lemmons? If you’re up on your entertainment news – or you’re someone who reads the credits at the movie theatre – maybe you know Tina Gordon.

One Night in Miami…

Harriet

I Wanna Dance With Somebody

What Men Want

Little

The point is, even in the wake of recent efforts to expand the film industry’s consciousness, Black women continue to be underrepresented in the director’s chair. And once they get a break, it’s hard to stay there – consider Julie Dash and Leslie Harris, each of whom made one extremely well-received movie (Daughters of the Dust and Just Another Girl on the I.R.T., respectively) and then mostly dropped out of sight.

Daughters of the Dust

Kanopy

Daughters of the Dust: the Making of an African-American Woman’s Film

Just Another Girl on the I.R.T.

hoopla

It’s in this context that the notable accomplishments of director Ava DuVernay are even more impressive. She’s only been making feature-length films for about 10 years – she first started to think about filmmaking when she was in her 30s – but in that time she’s accumulated a boatload of awards, some hefty box office receipts, and an Oscar nomination. Did I enjoy her big-screen adaptation of the classic novel A Wrinkle in Time? I did not. But that’s how you know the American film industry has broadened its range of opportunities: when a director from any background can make a misfire and still get to work again.

It’s DuVernay’s birthday on August 24, so commemorate the occasion by putting on one of her movies and enjoying the vision of a director who’s in the prime of her artistry. Unless you’re already invited to go to her party, in which case, I mean, good for you, do that.

I Will Follow

Kanopy

Middle of Nowhere

Kanopy

Selma

Queen Sugar

A Wrinkle in Time