LEARNING INTENTIONS

To explore the impact a director can have on the success of a film.

To research a director considered to be an auteur.

1. Create a table with two columns. 

2. Label one column screenwriter and the other director. 

3. Fill in each column with the responsibilities of each role in the film industry.

Profile of a director

Read this profile of a director and pay attention to the structure of the text. You are going to copy this structure to write your own profile of a director of your choosing.

Ava DuVernay, Director and Activist

by Caitlyn Meagher

Do you enjoy movies that make you laugh and cry? Ava DuVernay directs movies that cause audiences to experience a range of emotions. She is a world renowned African American director who believes it is important for her movies to cause a strong reaction in viewers.

Ava DuVernay was inspired to go into the arts at a young age by her aunt, Denise. Denise was a nurse who worked the night shift so she could pursue her artistic passions during the day. Over time, DuVernay saw that she could make her own statement through film. She began creating documentaries that showed the issues and triumphs of the communities around her. She then moved into directing and writing her own films, winning many awards at film festivals around the nation.

In many of her films, Ava DuVernay makes art about many parts of the Black experience. One of her goals is to combine activism and art. A major film of hers, Selma, focuses on a march by protestors fighting for voting rights protections during the Civil Rights Movement. She earned a Golden Globe nomination for best director for this film. She was the first Black woman to be nominated for this award. In 2016, Disney announced that Ava DuVernay would direct A Wrinkle in Time. She was the first woman of colour to direct a live-action film with a budget of over $100 million.

Currently, Ava DuVernay is working on her television show, Queen Sugar. One of her philosophies is to hire a diverse cast and crew to give many people a range of opportunities. She believes in offering opportunities to talented female directors. This is the first television series in which female directors direct every episode.

DuVernay's confidence and drive define a lot of her work. She says, "I choose what I do. Anything that I'm embracing is something that I'm involved in from the ground up. I do love everything that I'm doing, and I love the stories that I'm telling."

Questions on the text

Who is Ava DuVernay?

A. a world renowned African American musician

B. a world renowned African American author

C. a world renowned African American chef

D. a world renowned African American movie director

What happened after DuVernay started making documentaries about the communities around her?

A. She started writing her own books.

B. She became an actress in many movies.

C. She started teaching classes about movies.

D. She started directing and writing her own films

Read the following sentences from the text.

"A major film of hers, Selma, focuses on a march by protestors fighting for voting rights protections during the Civil Rights Movement. She earned a Golden Globe nomination for best director for this film. She was the first black woman to be nominated for this award. In 2016, Disney announced that Ava DuVernay would direct A Wrinkle in Time. She was the first woman of color to direct a live-action film with a budget of over $100

million."

What can you conclude about DuVernay based on this information?

A. She has been a leader for Black filmmakers in many different ways.

B. She has decided to work only on films with a budget higher than $100 million.

C. She worked for Disney on one film but will never work on another Disney movie.

D. Selma was the first movie she ever made and it's her favourite film.

How would the author describe DuVernay's approach to storytelling?

A. She tells funny, light-hearted stories about strange people and their lives.

B. She tells sad, frustrating stories about people who don't have many options in life.

C. She tells exciting, fast-paced stories with lots of twists, turns, and surprises.

D. She tells powerful, important stories about history, activism, and her community.

What is the main idea of this text?

A. Ava DuVernay is a Black movie director and writer who is a leader for Black filmmakers, telling important stories that cause an emotional reaction.

B. Ava DuVernay's first movies were documentaries, which are real movies that follow real people and tell the stories of their lives.

C. Some of the Ava DuVernay's movies are more popular than others, but they are all important to her career.

D. Selma, a major film by Ava DuVernay, tells the story of a march by protestors during the Civil Rights Movement.

Writing Portfolio TASK 3

• You need to choose a director who is considered to be an auteur and write a 350 word profile of them. You need to follow the structure and scaffold provided by the model piece of writing about director, AVA DUVERNAY. 

Directors you could choose from include: 

Wes Anderson

Hayao Miyazaki

Jane Campion

Bong Joon-Ho

Tim Burton

Baz Luhrmann

Quentin Tarantino

Martin Scorsese

Steven Spielberg

Alfred Hitchcock

The Coen brothers

Spike Lee

Christopher Nolan