Ava DuVernay addressed the overlooking of her new film, Origin, this awards season on Instagram Wednesday (January 10th). The Queen Sugar creator was especially upset about the lack of “recognition” for the star of the film, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor.
DuVernay shared a video of Ellis-Taylor handing out “postcards” for Origin at a movie theater in Los Angeles, the same night as the Golden Globes—an event that neither celebrity attended.
“Someone posted this footage, and I burst into tears. This was apparently taken last Sunday, Golden Globes day. This is a video of Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor. Our lead actress in ‘Origin.’ She wasn’t nominated that day,” the Selma director wrote, explaining that Ellis-Taylor was inviting “people to see our work” to “remind herself about what matters.”
“My heart aches. I wish she didn’t have to do this to remind herself,” DuVernay added. “I wish she was at the Globes or SAG Awards or Critics Choice or the other nominations that didn’t come. I wish she had commercials and magazine covers and all the things that are arranged for the actresses we are supposed to pay attention to in the awards season.”
Octavia Spencer commented, “Everyone needs to see this movie, [it] should be shown in schools.” Origin is inspired by Pulitzer-Prize winning author Isabel Wilkerson’s book Caste, which looks at the legacy of racism in America.
