On February 20, the Eastern Diversity Steering Committee (EDSC) virtual meeting was preceded by the discussion, Origin: A Conversation with Director Ava DuVernay.
In a discussion moderated by DGA Secretary-Treasurer and Past President Paris Barclay, DuVernay spoke about the creative process in making her latest feature, Origin, and its significance in the climate of today.
Duvernay explained, “Making a film about caste is not something I could do. I had to make a film about a woman writing a book about caste. When creating the screenplay and how to set up those scenes, it was about a woman on a journey.”
Answering a question from the audience about the non-linear timeline of the story, she stated, “Luckily, I embraced the idea that in order to make this work, I was going to have to mess this up. There’s no antagonist or clear big conflict. All the things to put crispiness and edge in the story don’t exist in this story. I had to embrace that it wasn’t going to have that and that those things aren’t missing, they’re just not going to be part of this telling. I made the crispiness come by moving you around time.”
Based on Isabel Wilkerson’s influential nonfiction best-seller, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, DuVernay’s film puts Wilkerson in the center and sets her on a path of global investigation and discovery that chronicles how lives today are defined by a hierarchy of human divisions.
DuVernay’s other directorial credits include the feature films A Wrinkle in Time, Selma, Middle of Nowhere, I Will Follow and This Is the Life; the documentary 13th; the movie for television For Justice; episodes of the mini-series One Perfect Shot, DMZ and Colin in Black & White; and episodes of Queen Sugar and Scandal. She was nominated for the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television and Limited Series for her 2020 mini-series When They See Us. She has been a DGA member since 2013 and previouslt served as 5th Vice President of the Guild. She currently serves as an alternate on the DGA National Board and as a member of the Western Directors Council.
About the Eastern Diversity Steering Committee
The Eastern Diversity Steering Committee represents the concerns of Guild members of African, Asian, Native American, Arab-Middle Eastern or Latino descent residing in the East. Committed to improving the employment opportunities, working conditions and the skills of ethnically diverse Guild members, the Committee sponsors workshops, seminars, round-table discussions and networking events to showcase the talents of its members, recognize their contributions and increase their visibility in the industry. The Committee’s current Co-Chairs are Directors Seith Mann and Bertha Bay-Sa Pan and UPM Canella Williams-Larrabee.