Ava DuVernay

Ava Marie DuVernay born August 24 1972 is an American director screenwriter producer and former rapper In the 1990s DuVernay was active in the Los Angeles underground hip hop scene performing under the names AvA and Eve and as one half of the duo Figures of Speech with fellow female MC Ronda Ross aka Jyant DuVernays debut film music documentary This Is the Life 2008 chronicled the rise and enduring influence of the scene of which she had been a part focusing on its epicenter at the famous open mic nights in the Good Life Cafe where many major west coast underground hip hop artists got their starts At the 2012 Sundance Film Festival DuVernay won the Best Director Prize for her second feature film Middle of Nowhere becoming the first AfricanAmerican woman to win the award For her work on Selma 2014 DuVernay was the first black female director to be nominated for a Golden Globe Award and also the first to have her film nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture though she was not nominated for Best Director In 2017 she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for her political documentary 13th 2016