Ava DuVernay: ‘I want to be defined as a ‘black woman filmmaker.’

Ava DuVernay


We often hear creatives talk about how they don’t want to be defined. Artists who are statistical minorities in their medium speak of not wanting their race, gender, or sexual orientation to define their work, even if these aspects of their identity influence their work.

Filmmaker Ava DuVernay, who was recently honored at the Women In Film 2015 Crystal + Lucy Awards Presented By Max Mara, stated that being a black woman informs her gaze as an artist, and she would never want to separate her race and gender from her work.

She says in a short video for AOL’s Makers series,

“I know and I’ve heard of people saying, ‘I don’t want to be defined as a woman filmmaker’ or ‘I don’t want to be defined as a black filmmaker.’ All good with me, but I want to be defined as a ‘black woman filmmaker,’ because that’s the lens through which I’m working. That is my gaze. I’m proud of it. I don’t feel like it’s any less or limiting. I’m a black woman filmmaker and my films are just as valid as the white man filmmaker and whoever else,” she said in the installment titled “I’m a Black Woman Filmmaker.” “Why do we have to strip? Why do we have to strip off who we are to fit into some dominant culture? Say what you are. Be proud of what you are. That doesn’t mean you’re not also just a filmmaker. But you’ve got something special, like, that’s awesome.”