Ava DuVernay Says Movie Studios "Aren't Lining Up for Black Protagonists"

DuVernay reminds us diversity in Hollywood is almost non-existent.

Image via Showbiz411

The most lily-white Oscars in history may be long gone, but the conversation about diversity in films is still being had and Selma director Ava DuVernay, snubbed for a best director nom, weighed in on the topic after it was brought up at her SXSW speech earlier today.  

An audience member asked why Martin Luther King Jr.’s story took so long to get to the big screen, to which DuVernay responded: 

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“The studios aren’t lining up to make films about black protagonists.” DuVernay added, “Black people being autonomous and independent.”

But DuVernay encouraged diverse filmmakers to try and find a way to get those stories made anyway. As you know, the statistics for people of color and women in films continues to be abysmal each year. In her speech she also shared why she, like us, knows the Oscars ain't shit (in a more eloquent way, of course): “It’s not anything but a big room with very nice people dressed up. It’s very cool. But my work’s worth is not about what happens in, around or for that room.”

DuVernay revealed she was much more fulfilled by seeing audiences react to Selma when she went to five Los Angeles theaters with David Oyelowo, who plays King in the film. Having Selma screened at the White House must have also been a highlight. DuVernay concluded her speech with this important gem: 

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“If your dream is only about you, it’s too small.”

[via Variety]

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