Ava DuVernay Quotes

It's very nourishing and collaborative - kind of the true essence of what one would want an artistic collaboration to be [the collaboration with Oprah Winfrey].

It sounds kind of flighty, filmmaker-y, but I believe films are a piece of art. They are meant to be what they're meant to be, and sometimes the artist is informed by the film of what it needs to be.

We've had these bursts of cool years here or there but that's not change. That's a trend. You only hope that this could be the beginning of true change.

I always find it fascinating to ask people, why they've chosen to live their life as an artist? Why be an actor, a singer, an author, a filmmaker? I've heard such inspiring answers to that question.

[ Hollywood] is a patriarchy, headed by men and built for men.

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.

I think that women definitely have a special bond as friends that is hard to describe to men, and we don't often see that portrayed narratively.

I'm making and marketing my films, by any means necessary, and enjoying life while I do so.

Working full-time as a filmmaker has been a dream come true.

It was easy for me to show the films to the studio and the network and say, "This is who I'm hiring."

When you say cultural icon, I scrunch my nose.

When you force sleep, it doesn't happen.

I just remember not having access to films as a young person who loved films but living in Compton.

We're living based on laws and ideas that we, as a society, embraced back in the days of slavery.

My parents [are my hero]. They've helped me be who I am.

Women have been trained in our culture and society to ask for what we want instead of taking what we want. We've been really indoctrinated with this culture of permission. But that time has passed.

Positive characterizations are complex characterizations. That's all we need to know. They shouldn't be saccharine. They shouldn't feel like medicine.

A black woman making art is a disruptive act. Every story that I tell as a woman is a political act, even if I want to tell a 'silly love story.' The fact it exists through my gaze is radical.