Director Ava DuVernay is well-known in Hollywood, and when she’s not making history, she’s working on exciting new projects.
DuVernay and Oprah Winfrey
DuVernay and Oprah Winfrey have teamed up again (Winfrey was also executive producer of Selma) for new TV drama Queen Sugar. The adaptation of Natalie Baszile’s novel of the same name will premiere on Tuesday, Sept. 6, on the OWN network.
It’s about family
The story follows the lives of three adult siblings who are forced to work together and run the family’s sugar cane farm in their hometown of St. Josephine, Louisiana, after their father’s health takes a dramatic turn.
Speaking of the reason the story stood out to her, DuVernay said, “At the core of it, it’s about a family. A family that is just exploring the nuances of life in a way that’s quite magnificent…”
There are some familiar faces
The series stars True Blood alum Rutina Wesley, who plays the lead role of reporter and activist Nova Bordelon, while her siblings — struggling ex-con Ralph Angel and successful businesswoman and basketball wife Charley — are played by Kofi Siriboe and Dawn-Lyen Gardner, respectively.
All female directors
The series is extra special because it’s helmed by women. According to Variety, the series will be directed entirely by women in its first 13-episode season.
DuVernay is directing the first two episodes with other directors, including Tina Mabry, Victoria Mahoney, Tanya Hamilton, So Yong Kim, Kat Candler, Salli Richardson-Whitfield and Neema Barnette.
It’s all about female empowerment
The series serves as a platform for women in the entertainment industry, as The Hollywood Reporter notes that six of the novice directors who worked on the show have now booked TV gigs off their experience with Queen Sugar.
It’s a first in many ways
Queen Sugar is DuVernay’s TV debut, but it will also take a different direction from other shows, like Empire and Power, with African-American protagonists (which The Hollywood Reporter notes thrive on ending each episode with a cliffhanger) because DuVernay has opted to do something a little different.
“I don’t know how this is going to be received in the context of current shows with African-American protagonists,” she says, according to the publication. “We’re just watching these women, and that’s fantastic. But will that be allowed for black characters?” A question we’ll have to wait until Sept. 6 to answer.
There will be a second season
Good news if you’re a fan of DuVernay and her work, because the show has already been renewed by OWN for a second season, ahead of the series premiere. According to Variety, the sophomore season received a 16-episode order.
‘The Battle of Versailles’
DuVernay has also signed on to HBO Films’ upcoming film The Battle of Versailles, which she’ll be co-writing with Michael Starrbury.
According to Deadline, the film will be based on the Palace of Versailles fashion show from Nov. 28, 1973, that propelled the relatively unknown American designers into the limelight.
Breaking barriers
But more than that, the epic fashion show was also about the models, and this show broke barriers, as it featured 10 African-American models out of the 30 that graced the catwalk.
‘The 13th’
Apart from Queen Sugar and The Battle of Versailles, DuVernay also has an upcoming Netflix documentary titled The 13th. The project will open the 54th annual New York Film Festival this fall (making it the first nonfiction work to ever open the festival).
The title has special significance
The film focuses on why the U.S. has the highest rate of incarceration in the world, with the large majority of the inmates being African-American. And according to The Guardian, the title of the documentary refers to the 13th Amendment of the Constitution: “Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States.”
The trailer
And now, it’s finally here, the official trailer for The 13th.
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