Dalit scholar Suraj Yengde, author of Caste Matters and The Radical in Ambedkar: Critical Reflections, attended the premiere of Origin, directed by Ava DuVernay, at the Venice Film Festival.

When I meet Ava DuVernay, inside the bowels of the Hotel Excelsior on the Venice Lido, I’m immediately struck by her poise and sense of purpose. Read More

Filmmaker behind Selma and The 13th became the first African American woman with a film in competition in Venice for her new drama Origin Read More

DuVernay is the first African American woman in the festival’s 80-year existence to have a film compete for the Golden Lion. Read More

DuVernay’s powerful biographical drama is the first movie by a Black U.S. female director to be included in the official competition at the world’s oldest film festival. Read More

Ava DuVernay made history Wednesday as the first African American woman to direct a feature in competition at the Venice Film Festival. Read More

Ava DuVernay touched down at the Venice Film Festival on Wednesday evening with her new film Origin, which world premiered in Competition and received a more than eight-minute ovation in its debut screening. Read More

This morning, I contributed to the audible sniffles and sobs at the screening of Origin, the 5th narrative feature by Ava DuVernay.

Examining non-fictional source material through its process of creation is always a fascinating endeavour.

When Pulitzer Prize-winning author Isabel Wilkerson (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor) first conceived of the multifaceted premise that would eventually become the lauded non-fiction book “Caste: The Origin of Our Discontents,” her editors were concerned about whether she would manage to cohesively merge her personal experiences with all the moving parts of her research across cultures and continents to prove that it all interconnects.

In Ava DuVernay’s seventh feature, Origin, which premiered tonight at the Venice Film Festival, the exploration of caste systems as a mode of oppression takes center stage.

The Selma director is back with a drama centring on writer Isabel Wilkerson and her research into systemic injustice. It’s fiercely focused and full of heart, writes Steph Green.