Ava DuVernay is “not very hopeful” about racial tensions in the US
Director Ava DuVernay has talked about her latest movie Origin and explained why she is “not very hopeful” about ongoing racial tensions in the United States.
Origin is a cinematic adaptation of Isabel Wilkerson’s book, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, which explores the roots of racism and prejudice in America and beyond.
“It was a time when people were in a very introspective place,” DuVernay said. “People were looking for answers, looking for solutions, looking for something to hold onto, some anchor.”
Discussing the racial explorations within the project, DuVernay told iNews: “We have to understand the components of race and what is it made of, and caste is the bedrock, it’s the foundation of any of the ‘isms’ – racism, sexism, Islamophobia, homophobia, antisemitism.”
She continued, “All of that sits on top of caste, which is this idea based on a set of random traits: I am better than you because I come from this place; I’m better than you because I believe this; I’m better than you because my hair colour is this; I’m better than you because I’m taller, a man, a woman, black, white, whatever the thing is.”
However, while necessary discussions are increasing, DuVernay doesn’t feel very optimistic. When asked if she feels optimistic, she responded: “Not very hopeful. But that doesn’t mean that I’m not determined to be involved and to raise my voice and to continue to work towards justice. It’s OK to say that these are dark times, it’s OK to say that you’re disconcerted.”
Regarding what drives her to explore certain works, she added: “I’ve always been interested in stories that are true. And sharing them through the tools – the medium of cinema – as story. So whether you want to call that journalism, or storytelling or filmmaking, I’m not sure,” she says. “But these are the things I’m interested in. And this is how I express them.”
In a three-and-a-half star review of Origin, Far Out said: “The goal is not simply to re-tell the contents of Caste or describe its writing process but to portray the material in its natural habitat, including the present-day consequences of longstanding racist systems. In this, DuVernay succeeds brilliantly, even in the endlessly difficult task of getting across what one form of racial discrimination has to do with a different, seemingly unrelated class system. “
Watch the trailer below.
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