Ava DuVernay discusses Netflix documentary '14th' at London Film Festival

Left · 1Ava DuVernay appeared at the 70th BFI London Film Festival on Monday 12 October. The Hollywood Reporter describes a Screen Talk about her career, her latest documentary '14th' and the state of Hollywood. 1 Centre · 1Deadline reports that '14th', which DuVernay produced and directed for Netflix, screened as the festival's Special Documentary Presentation. It arrived in London after its debut at the New York Film Festival on 9 October. 2 Mixed · 2Deadline says DuVernay and her producers Tammy Garnes and Paul Garnes received a long standing ovation before a post-screening Q&A with BFI programmer Grace Barber-Plentie. The Hollywood Reporter says DuVernay was "showered with love and adoration" by fans. 2 1

Mixed · 2Both outlets describe '14th' as a study of the 14th Amendment and its current challenges. Deadline says the film covers birthright citizenship, due process, equal protection and the bar on insurrection by heads of state, and draws a line from Reconstruction to President Donald Trump's second term. The Hollywood Reporter says it puts Trump administration policies in a historical context. 2 1 Centre · 1DuVernay said the idea began in summer 2024, when she heard Trump talk on the campaign trail about challenging birthright citizenship. She said Trump later began "systematically challenging every other part of the Amendment". Deadline adds that Trump signed an executive order challenging birthright citizenship on his first day of his second term and that the US Supreme Court later ruled it unconstitutional. 2 Centre · 1Deadline reports that interviewees include Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Stacey Abrams, Bryan Stevenson, streamer Hasan Piker and Republican Anna Paulina Luna. DuVernay said her team approached more than 300 people considered Republican or MAGA and only four agreed to take part. 2

Left · 1On what keeps her going, DuVernay told the Screen Talk audience that the film "saved me in a lot of ways", because she could pour her rage and fear into it daily. She said she finished it only two weeks earlier and did not know what she would do next. She said '14th' shows "how we got to a place where MAGA can be in power". 1 Mixed · 2On hope, she said "history is the key" and that people before her went through tougher times. At the Q&A, she said the film was "not made to give you hope at the end" but to leave audiences clear-eyed. Her main takeaway was that "systems are not static" and can be changed by people. 1 2 Left · 1According to the Hollywood Reporter, DuVernay said "Hollywood is over", citing studio mergers, collapses and sales of studio lots. She said alternative financing, including crowdfunding from like-minded backers, will matter more, and that artists and audiences will increasingly connect directly. 1

Centre · 1'14th' opens in select US and UK cinemas from 27 November and arrives globally on Netflix on 4 December, according to Deadline. 2