Director Ava DuVernay has become Hollywood’s hottest commodity after the critical success of 2014’s Selma. This year was dominated with rumors about the possibility of her taking on the Black Panther directing job. However, DuVernay set the record straight telling the media that the project was not for her and that she will focus on projects similar to Selma.
This week she revealed that her film distribution company, African American Film Festival Releasing Movement, is expanding and relaunching as Array.
The company aims to support filmmakers of color and women. This fall, Array will release South African director Sara Blecher’s coming-of-age drama, Ayanda and the Mechanic and Takeshi Fukunaga’s debut feature, Out of My Hand.
DuVernay’s company also has struck a deal with Netflix and introduced viewers to USC graduate Tina Mabry’s first film, Mississippi Damned, a dark family drama that garnered critical acclaim on the festival circuit after its debut at Slamdance in 2009.
“Right now, there is a fundamental disrespect inherent in the distribution and amplification of films,” DuVernay explains. “There is a cinema segregation in how films are seen and not seen. What we’re saying is, we’re not going to depend on those things anymore.”
In addition to traditional theatrical releases, she sees the new streaming platforms and premium cable as options for some of the films she will release.
For more information on Array, visit Arraynow.com.
