Ava DuVernay Shares the Roots Behind Her Documentary "The 14th" at the Inaugural Buzzy London Film Festival

Ava DuVernay continued promoting the 14th documentary she produced and directed for Netflix this afternoon in London, where the film was screened as a special documentary presentation at the London Film Festival. The film arrived in London after its first screening at the New York Film Festival on October 9.

Ava DuVernay continued to introduce the 14th documentary she has produced and directed on Netflix this evening in London, where it premiered as a special documentary presentation at the London Film Festival.

The film arrived in London on October 9 after its premiere at the New York Film Festival.

"I got straight on a plane and came here to see what these ideas feel like in another country," DuVernay told a packed London crowd as he introduced the film.

As it turns out, DuVernay's ideas were exactly what the LFF audience was looking for. The Los Angeles-based filmmaker and his producers, Tommy Garnes and Paul Garnes, received a standing ovation as they walked on stage for a post-screening Q&A session with BFI programmer Grace Barber-Plenty (a standing ovation is rare at the LFF, where audiences are enthusiastic but rarely excited). Related News: Netflix's Bela Bajaria Has No Regrets About Failed Warnings Buy: 'It was always nice to have one at a certain price' News Netflix's 'The Body' trailer sees a dance team party and start a turn

Coming ten years after Emmy DuVernay's 13th season, the film explains how the 14th Amendment and the basic citizenship principles of birthright, due process, equal protection under the law, and the ban on heads of state from engaging in acts of rebellion, endorsed by the post-Civil War attack, are now under the system. Watch the deadline

DuVernay constructs the film's narrative using a wide and often surprising range of interview subjects. Contributors include expected names like Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, former Georgia state representative Stacey Abrams, and social justice activist Brian Stevenson. But filmmaker Selma also includes contemporary voices such as political broadcaster and influencer Hasan Pikar alongside MAGA Republicans such as Anna Paulina Luna.

"It was important for us to have a range of views. We wanted the audience to feel represented," DuVernay told the London audience. "We contacted over 300 people who are Republicans or MAGAs and only four responded and said they would do it."

DuVernay told the LFF crowd that he had no real intention of returning to the subject of the US Constitution after the 13th Amendment, which includes the 13th Amendment, but was intrigued by the idea of interrogating the history of the 14th Amendment during President Donald Trump's second re-election campaign.

"It was the summer of 2024, when Donald Trump was running for the second term, and I heard him talk about birthright citizenship," he said. "One of the first things he said he would do — as a campaign promise — was challenge birthright citizenship. I thought, 'Oh, wow.' This is the 14th Amendment."

In fact, President Donald Trump signed an executive order challenging US citizenship on the first day of his second term, which was later ruled unconstitutional by the US Supreme Court.

"But he also started challenging every other part of the amendment," DuVernay said, explaining how the film developed.

"Part of our research, and trying to unpack all of this, was the terrifying realization that no one knew everything we needed to know. For The 13th, there was a book called The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander, which was like our bible for that movie. For this movie, there was no single book because there were so many pieces. A lot of the work was while everything was actually coming together.

The 14th episode is just over 100 minutes long, but covers a huge swath of US history, drawing a straight line from the Reconstruction era to Trump's second term.

Tommy Garnes said, "Every day we were making the film, we were documenting something happening in the United States that shocked us or had something to do with the 14th Amendment. And every day we could find something." "The truth is there. It's just that you want to see it, hear it, and internalize it."

The 14th will premiere globally on Netflix on December 4th, following a theatrical release in select US and UK theaters beginning November 27th. DuVernay told the LFF audience that the main point of the production is that "systems are not static."

"We often feel governed by the laws, politicians and policies we live in and under. But systems are driven by people, and we need to remember that systems can be changed by people," DuVernay said.

"This movie isn't made to give you hope at the end. It's made to make sure that we're all standing together in a place of truth and sanity. That we're clear-eyed about where we are and honest about where we need to go. I hope you feel that way afterwards. That was the goal."

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