Ava DuVernay: First African-American woman to be nominated as Best Director, Golden Globes

Women have been making their mark across many fields and the film industry is no different. Women have been actors, directors and writers for a long time but have seen less recognition as compared to men. This holds true for women of colour as well, who have been doubly marginalized in most fields.

These women of colour have been breaking barriers in the entertainment industry, may it be Halle Berry, Sandra Oh, Shonda Rhimes or Ava DuVernay, who was recently nominated for the Golden Globes in the Best Director category. DuVernay is the first African American women to be nominated for the category at the Golden Globes.

Ava DuVernay has been nominated for directing the Martin Luther King Jr. biopic, Selma, which released on January 9^th and has received a total of 4 nominations, including the Best Actor award for David Oyelowo. The actor told The Hollywood Reporter, "She's the first black woman to be nominated for best director. She's made a little bit of history. It's so wonderful…  I'm so proud of her. She's only been doing this for five years; this is her third movie. It's a big moment for her."

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Her last movie, ‘Middle of Nowhere’, made her the first African-American woman to win the best director prize at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival in 2012. According to a report by Bustle, she said, “It’s a sweet moment for me, not because I’m the first, but because of the fact (that Selma is) something I worked hard on, I gave it 100% of everything I had.

The “first” of it all is the bittersweet part. I’m certainly not the first black woman deserving of this. You can’t tell me that since 1943 there’s not been another black woman who’s made something worthy of this kind of recognition. But for whatever reason it hasn’t happened. The time is now. I thank them for recognizing Selma. I just hope that we get through all the “firsts,” that we can just get to the good stuff and that people can just make their work and move on from (that conversation).”