'I felt I was not the right person to tell Dr Ambedkar's story'

THE INDEPENDENT AMERICAN WRITER-FILMMAKER-ACTIVIST AVA DUVERNAY ON THE CHALLENGES OF DEALING WITH THE COMPLEX REALITY OF THE CASTE SYSTEM IN INDIA AND ITS INTRINSIC PREJUDICES AND BRUTALITIES IN HER RECENT FILM ORIGIN

- NAMRATA JOSHI

TENNIS Champion Venus Williams once said, "If you have a chance to work with Ava (DuVernay), you do it right away. She's opening doors, and that's courageous."

Duvernay had made the 2013 ESPN documentary, Venus Vs, on Williams' fight for equal prize money. No wonder DuVernay has been one of the most in-demand celebrities-and warm and accessible to boot-among the young filmmakers thronging the 21st edition of the Marrakech International Film Festival where she participated in a conversation with the French producer, writer, actor and costume designer Rosalie Varda. A publicist turned filmmaker, DuVernay started off by making documentaries. She hit the spotlight on becoming the first African-American woman to win the directing award in the US dramatic competition at the Sundance Film Festival for her second feature film Middle of Nowhere (2012). She went on to make the 2014 historical drama Selma, which was nominated for the Best Picture Oscar and won the Academy Award for Best Song.

Politically aware, socially conscious and outspoken, she took a dig on stage at the Marrakech conversation on Donald Trump, Elon Musk and the double standards of the US judicial system. On whether she was aware of the support being provided to young Dalit film professionals and musicians by Tamil filmmaker Pa Ranjith, she was quick to admit her ignorance while being as agile in stating the need to form solidarities on such efforts and requesting for names of his organisations-Neelam Cultural Centre and The Casteless Collective.