It is Women’s History Month, so we spoke with an Oscar and Emmy nominated writer, director, and producer who is a groundbreaker in the film industry. Ava DuVernay is the first African American woman to receive the Sun Dance Film Festival’s Best Director award. She has built quite a reputation for herself even though she did not pick up a camera until she was 32 years old. She is now collaborating with Emmy winner Roberto Patino on “DMZ”, a new HBO Max drama.
DuVernay and Writer and Showrunner Roberto Patino talked with Live in the D co-host Tati Amare about their collaboration.
DuVernay says the show is about community and family during war and about what happens to people when politics takes center stage and turns into a dispute. She commented that many of the shows we watch are about the rough and tumbles of adventure and action. She did, however, underline that there is a real heartbeat, humanity, and dignity to all the action in this show, which sets “DMZ” apart and makes it a special story.
There is a demand for and success in adapting comic-book storylines for the screen, and Patino stated that “DMZ” presents their worst-case scenario and demonstrates that it is a bit cathartic for people to see what it may look like if everything goes wrong. He views it as a great opportunity to tell a story about hope, people coming together, and finding a way.
Ava has been a trailblazer in the film business. She said it is an honor to be recognized for her work. She said that her work is a dream for her, and that it was highly unlikely that she would be able to achieve what she is doing. She added that, like so many other women and people in general, you put yourself out there and take a chance.
“My grandma always says, ‘Nothing beats a failure but a try,’” Ava said. She said that she tried, and certain things came into place, and that she felt really honored to be able to do what she does every day.
With streaming services like HBO Max and others giving their writers, directors, and producers more ways to share their stories, Patino says he wants to showcase people of color more than anything else. He said that there are many stories and perspectives that we do not get to see, and they represent our world, and he wishes to accomplish this in the context of genre story telling since he likes large worlds, scopes, and scales.
Ava also mentioned that she has another show on the streaming service called “One Perfect Shot,” which is about making movies in which she invites her filmmaker friends who produce major movies to talk about how they made them.
Watch the video above to for the full interview.