Ava DuVernay Quotes

I mean, if this [film Age of Trump] wasn't on Netflix, it would be playing at some lovely art house theater on the West Side once or twice or for a week or maybe two weeks if I was lucky and then it would go away, and I'd be lucky if I could sell the DVDs off my website.

Netflix represents, as well as all the streaming services, something that I've been talking about being so important to inclusive voices around films.

When you say cultural icon, I scrunch my nose.

I'm a prison abolitionist because the prison system as it is set up is just not working. It's horrible.

I make films about Black women and it doesn't mean that you can't see them as a Black man, doesn't mean that he can't see them as a white man or she can't see them as a white woman.

If you're doing something outside of dominant culture there's not an easy place for you. You will have to do it yourself.

I'm not the most athletic gal, but because making a movie is very physical, I slow down on the Krispy Kreme and Ice Blendeds. I start to get leaner and more focused - like I'm going into a boxing match - because I'm about to really try to put this idea on its feet.

I've been to Sundance eight times as a publicist and thought I was very prepared. I mean, who could've been more prepared for me? A publicist who's been there eight times. Getting there as a filmmaker was a completely surreal, different, unexpected experience.

I know that sounds a little bit corny, but I've found some solace in that. I hope art can continue to do that for people, I really do.

I think when we get to a place that this is not the story, that everyone's story is a part of the story, then we can say this has changed. Until then, these are steps to change if they're consistent.