Selma director Ava DuVernay has a new project following her acclaimed new TV show Queen Sugar, which premiered earlier this month on Oprah's OWN channel. The Oscar nominee is now getting in the documentary game with a Netflix original movie, 13th, which is a sobering look at America's prison system and how it particularly affects people of color. The title, 13th, refers to the 13th Amendment of the Constitution ("Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States...") and the loopholes the system has found to mass incarcerate people from the black community after the abolition of slavery. Mixing archival footage with interviews, DuVernay (who directed and produced) shows the exploitative nature of the American justice system and how monetization has affected it as well.
Watch the trailer above and check out the poster below.
DuVernay is one of the most exciting and important directors working today. Her next project will be an adaptation of A Wrinkle in Time, making DuVernay the first woman of color to direct a $100 million movie.
13th opens New York Film Festival on Sept. 30 and hits the Netflix stream Oct. 7.
