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12 Most Influential Black Women in Hollywood Right Now

From trailblazing directors to on-screen inspirations, the African American women making progress in today's tinseltown

by Amanda Montell | 1 COMMENT

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Ava Duverney Ava Duvernay is now a Golden Globe-nominated director, but actress and film critic Carla Renata says she began with much humbler roots. "She started out as a publicist," Renata recounts. "She was a young, beautiful black woman from Compton, California. And she was able to transition into filmmaking from there, because she's an amazing writer... Now, she's knocking down barriers one film at a time." (She makes it sound so easy).

In 2012, Duvernay became the first black woman to win a directing award at the Sundance Film Festival for her second feature film, "Middle of Nowhere." In 2015, for her movie "Selma," she became the first black female director nominated for a Golden Globe.

"Some black filmmakers will say, 'I don't want to be considered a black filmmaker, I'm a filmmaker,' said Duvernay in a 2012 interview, "I don't think that. I'm a black woman filmmaker... my films are through my lens." With Duvernay's pride and hard work as inspiration, we hope to see many more black female filmmakers follow in her footsteps.

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