What can I say about Ava DuVernay that hasn’t already been said regarding her talent and drive? I can simply say she’s a beacon of light in a world that can be at times black as pitch and foreboding. Yes, I’m talking about Hollywood and following your dreams. And what makes her all the more incredible is that she is Black and female. DuVernay went from marketing other filmmakers’ films to producing, writing and directing her own.
This Friday her second film, “Middle of Nowhere” will be in theaters across the nation. In Los Angeles “Middle of Nowhere” will run at the RAVE 18 The Bridge, show times are 10:40 a.m.. 1, 3:20, 5:40, 8, and 10:20 p.m.
“Middle of Nowhere” follows Ruby, a bright medical student who sets aside her dreams and suspends her career when her husband is incarcerated. As the committed couple stares into the hollow end of an eight-year prison sentence, Ruby must learn to live another life, one marked by shame and separation. But through a chance encounter and a stunning betrayal that shakes her to her core, this steadfast wife is soon propelled in new and often shocking directions of self-discovery, caught between two worlds and two men in the search for herself.
DuVernay made filmmaking history as the first woman to win the Best Director at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival for “Middle of Nowhere.”
Her first film (2011) “I Will Follow” starred Salli Richardson-Whitfield as a woman getting her life in order while packing up the belongings of her loving aunt who had passed away. The film, based on DuVernay’s own experience, is a warm, gentle account of the people in our lives and how we let them impact us. The film won critical audience acclaim and drew the attention of independent filmmakers from across the globe.
To read more about DuVernay and her inspiring background, check out this New York Times article (Oct. 5, 2012) Ava DuVernay and ‘Middle of Nowhere’ www.newyorktimes.com and visit her website: http://www.middlenowhere.com/
The RAVE 18 The Bridge, is located at 6081 Center Drive, Los Angeles, (310) 568-3394.
Gail can be reached at gail@hollywoodbychoice.com
