So last week we got excited about The Fugitive and director Andy Davis kicking off the 2018 Ebertfest. In our haste we failed to give proper attention to the fact that these three extremely talented directors will be appearing as well.
First of all, Ava DuVernay is seriously on fire right now. Her movie adaptation of A Wrinkle In Time opened this weekend and came in just behind Black Panther (the fact that these two movies occupy the top box office spots is fantastic in its own right). Her documentary 13th, which will be shown at the festival, was nominated for an Oscar and is a must-watch film.
Julie Dash led the way for filmakers like DuVernay with her widely praised but overlooked film Daughters of the Dust, and Amma Asante’s Jane Austen-like Belle brings to light a seldom told story of the life of a free black woman in 19th century society.
Three groundbreaking directors, all women of color, in an industry where that is unfortunately a rarity, and they will be appearing here on the Virginia Theatre stage.
You can read more about them in this post from Chaz Ebert.