Ava DuVernay‘s “13th” documentary exploded in Hollywood, changing conversations about the impact of mass incarceration.
Now, she’s planning to shake up the political world, and one White House occupant won’t like what’s coming.
The award-winning director will examine a timely, complex intersection of scholarship and policy in her forthcoming Netflix documentary “14th.”
The film delves into the debated 14th Amendment. It’s the cornerstone of the Constitution that outlines citizenship and protection clauses such as due process. It will premiere on the streaming platform this fall.
She announced the feature on IG Threads as “The project I’ve been working on quietly for the past two years. Eager to share. This fall on Netflix.”
DuVernay’s most recent documentary is 2016’s “13th,” which examined the prison boom and the mass incarceration of African-Americans.
The Academy Awards nominated the critically acclaimed documentary for Best Documentary.
It also won Primetime Emmys for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special and Outstanding Writing, as well as the Best Documentary BAFTA Award and a Peabody Award.
“With 14th, she delivers another ambitious and thought-provoking documentary with the depth, artistry, and humanity that have come to define her work,” said Adam Del Deo, Netflix’s vice president of documentary film and series.
The discussion surrounding “14th” arrives amid a tumultuous political climate and President Donald Trump’s fight to repeal birthright citizenship.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, during a July 16 presser, said, “We’re going to continue to move forward to work with Congress, hopefully in the future, to remedy this problem in our country and to ensure we cannot have this scam continuing.”
BREAKING: White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt reiterates President Trump's firm stance on birthright citizenship, calling the practice a "scam" that needs to be remedied by Congress.
— Fox News (@FoxNews) July 16, 2026
"We're going to continue to move forward to work with Congress, hopefully in the future… pic.twitter.com/zX1vMELstd
The legal battle coincides with Trump’s immigration crackdown; the administration argues that denying citizenship to children born to illegal immigrants would deter illegal settlement in the United States.
“If ‘13th’ asked who gets caged, then ‘14th’ asks who gets counted,” DuVernay told Netflix’s Tudom.
“This is not a film about the past tense of freedom. I’m not interested in asking you to look back,” she continued. “The film asks what kind of country is being written beneath our feet now… while we’re busy believing the stories we’ve all been told.”
DuVernay is also the visionary behind 2014’s “Selma,” which revisited Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s voter rights march of 1965 from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.
Her trove of work has represented advocacy and articulated current topics with deeply researched narratives, and “14th” is no different.
View on Threads
A fan begged, “Please just let it come out before the election.” Their insinuation being that “14th” could be another chink in Trump’s armor, further weakening his anti-birthright citizenship crusade.
Another response to the documentary read, “At a time when people are questioning the very concept of birthright citizenship, we really need a thorough explainer on what that MEANS.”
“Aw yea. Let them pay you to teach this administration what the constitution actually means,” a third individual wrote, hoping that the film will be unsettling for Trump’s regime in the White House.
Moreover, fans raved, “I love her unapologetic storytelling,” and “Documentaries can change what people are willing to notice. Stories like this matter because being counted is never abstract.”
Pointing to the subject, two others wrote, “Oh wow she’s going there” and “Oh snap!”
DuVernay previously earned praise for the Netflix 2019 miniseries “When They See Us.” The show told the true story of the Central Park Five, Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, Raymond Santana, and Korey Wise.
In 1989, authorities wrongly convicted the Black and Latino teenagers of sexually assaulting a white female jogger in New York.
Trump took out a newspaper ad calling for the death penalty at the time. The teens served prison sentences ranging from five to 13 years before a court exonerated them in 2002.
Viewers are eager to see how “14th” explores citizenship, an issue Trump has repeatedly used as a political weapon.
Long before his push to end birthright citizenship, Trump spent years promoting the false “birther” conspiracy claims that former President Barack Obama was not born in the United States.
He thought he was delivering big news that would make Obama ineligible to serve as president. It did not.
