Quotes from Ava DuVernay

I don't want to say that in a place that's negative about what the fear is. I just want to be a realist.

Film school was a privilege I could not afford.

Women have been trained in our culture and society to ask for what we want instead of taking what we want. We've been really indoctrinated with this culture of permission. I think it's true for women, and I think it's true for people of color. It's historic, and it's unfortunate and has somehow become part of our DNA. But that time has passed.

If your dream only includes you, it's too small.

Hollywood needs more women directors, and Mama Ava needs a carafe and a half of that sweet vino divino.

I love to see people just being regal in their own skin; it's just when they know who they are.

I think I am a little jealous of women who have great girlfriends as adults.

Nonviolence is pretty ballsy, pretty advanced weaponry.

I make films about Black women and it doesn't mean that you can't see them as a Black man, doesn't mean that he can't see them as a white man or she can't see them as a white woman.

Any film that you see that has any progressive spirits that is made by any people of color or a woman is a triumph in and of itself. Whether you agree with it or not. Something that comes with some point of view and some personal perspective from a woman or a person of color is a unicorn.

Why do we always have to see black people in hindsight? Why are the Hollywood movies always historical? What about the contemporary image of black people?

With the Black Lives Matter movement, a lot of the focus is on the protest and dissent. I'm hoping to dismantle the public notion - for folks outside of the community - of what Black Lives Matter means. It's really about saying that black lives matter: that humanity is the same when you go inside people's homes.