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Like her film, "13th," which explores the far-reaching
repercussions of slavery in the United States today, DuVernay
says the Oscar nomination merely demonstrates how little
progress has been made.
"It's bittersweet because I know I'm not the first black woman
deserving of these things," DuVernay, 44, told Reuters
Television.
"I hope that it is also really clear that we are way behind on
where we should be... and that women and people of color don't
intend for it to be another 100 years for the second and the
third."
"13th" argues that although it has been 150 years since slavery
was officially abolished in the United States, it is still alive
in the form of mass incarceration that disproportionately
affects black people.
The documentary notes that the U.S. prison population rose from
357,000 in 1970 to 2.3 million in 2014. While black men account
for some 6.6 percent of the U.S. population, they currently make
up 40.2 percent of the prison population.
"13th" has already won a British BAFTA award and a slew of
critics prizes, making it a front-runner for the best
documentary Oscar at the Feb. 26 ceremony.
DuVernay is currently celebrating another first. She is
directing the movie version of the children's classic book "A
Wrinkle in Time," which marks the first time a black woman in
Hollywood has commanded a $100 million movie budget.
"Now that now that some of these things have been broken that
they need to be shattered and we need to move forward in a more
robust inclusive way," she said.
(Reporting by Reuters Television)
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