Ava DuVernay hopes to inspire black female directors

Director Ava DuVernay appears at the premiere of "A Wrinkle In Time," in London. DuVernay has checked off another milestone for black female directors. Picture: AP

Director Ava DuVernay appears at the premiere of "A Wrinkle In Time," in London. DuVernay has checked off another milestone for black female directors. Picture: AP

Published Jun 25, 2018

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Acclaimed moviemaker Ava DuVernay has revealed she hopes she's "not the last" black woman to direct a $100 million-grossing movie.

The 45-year-old filmmaker recently entered the history books when her fantasy movie 'A Wrinkle in Time' achieved the landmark - but she's hopeful that there will soon be other black female directors who follow suit. 

READ: Ava DuVernay to helm DCEU movie New Gods

Alongside a screenshot of a news story about her achievement, Ava wrote on Instagram: "Maybe the first, but not the last. More sisters to come. Thanks to all who came out to see and continue to catch WRINKLE IN TIME in theaters! We've passed the $100m mark at domestic box office. Tesser well. [praying emoji] xo (sic)" 

Maybe the first, but not the last. More sisters to come. Thanks to all who came out to see and continue to catch WRINKLE IN TIME in theaters! We’ve passed the $100m mark at domestic box office. Tesser well. 🙏🏾 xo

A post shared by Ava DuVernay(@ava) on Jun 21, 2018 at 9:15pm PDT

Meanwhile, Ava previously admitted it's "incredible" her Netflix documentary '13th' is shown in schools. 

The American director helmed the documentary which tackled racism in the US penal system back in 2016, and Ava said it was a "really tough couple of years" as she had to look through "hours of racist, violent footage". 

She said: "It's been incredible. It's assigned in schools and it's always showing on a big screen somewhere. 

"It was a really tough couple of years making it. I had to look through a thousand hours of racist, violent footage." 

She said, too, that helming the documentary pushed her to direct the new Disney movie 'A Wrinkle in Time' and also revealed how she related to the main character Meg. 

She said: "That was one of the things that pushed me towards 'Wrinkle'. It was a self-care thing. 

"[The book] missed me. I don't know how, because my sister read it and I was in the same bedroom. 

"But when I read it, I was really captivated by Meg, this girl with glasses who didn't think much of herself and who's lonely in the world. 

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