Ava DuVernay launches LEAP initiative to fund 25 projects: ‘We’re creating narrative change around police abuse’
Oscar-nominated filmmaker Ava DuVernay announced the launch of her new two-year initiative – Law Enforcement Accountability Project – on Monday’s episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
The goal of the 47-year-old director’s $3M-budget LEAP ‘is to disrupt the code of silence that exists around police aggression and misconduct’ through funding about 25 works of art.
‘We’re asking for narrative change,’ DuVernay said during the eight-minute interview.
Making change: Oscar-nominated filmmaker Ava DuVernay announced the launch of her new two-year initiative – Law Enforcement Accountability Project – on Monday’s episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show
‘We’re asking for narrative change’: The goal of the 47-year-old director’s $3M-budget LEAP ‘is to disrupt the code of silence that exists around police aggression and misconduct’ through funding about 25 works of art
‘And we’re creating narrative change around police abuse, misconduct, and murder of black people. We’re changing the lens of the story.’
Ava got emotional discussing Minneapolis man George Floyd and the four police officers that have since been arrested for his brutal murder on May 25.
‘I’ve been thinking a lot about my own rage. My own emotions,’ the SoCal native told the 62-year-old host.
‘When I look at George Floyd’s tape, I see my uncles. Not just in a general sense, but he looks like people in my family, like literally the facial features. So every time that that video plays on CNN or anything else, I see people that I love on the ground begging for their life.’
DuVernay said during the eight-minute interview: ‘We’re creating narrative change around police abuse, misconduct, and murder of black people. We’re changing the lens of the story’
‘I’ve been thinking a lot about my own rage’: Ava got emotional discussing Minneapolis man George Floyd and the four cops that have since been arrested for his murder on May 25
The SoCal native continued: ‘When I look at George Floyd’s tape, I see my uncles. Not just in a general sense, but he looks like people in my family, like literally the facial features. So every time that that video plays on CNN or anything else, I see people that I love on the ground begging for their life’
DuVernay added: ‘It made me realize that we have let police officers who abuse off the hook by allowing them to recede into society and kind of disappear’
DuVernay added: ‘We actually watched both parties’ faces perfectly framed. It was both men right in your face, right to the lens, one begging for his life and one taking his life.
‘It made me realize that we have let police officers who abuse off the hook by allowing them to recede into society and kind of disappear.’
Avengers: Endgame action star Chris Evans, Oscar-winning rapper Common, and Star Trek: Discovery’s Anthony Rapp were among the celebrities joining LEAP on Monday.
‘Well done!’ Avengers: Endgame action star Chris Evans, Oscar-winning rapper Common, and Star Trek: Discovery’s Anthony Rapp were among the celebrities joining LEAP on Monday
The UCLA grad will next appear in Where Do We Go From Here? – Oprah Winfrey’s two-night town hall airing Tuesday and Wednesday at 9pm EST on OWN and Discovery’s cable networks.
Other distinguished guests will include David Oyelowo, Stacey Abrams, Charles M. Blow, and Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms.
Fans can now stream two of Ava’s movies for free – Paramount Pictures released Selma on all platforms throughout June, and Netflix put her documentary 13th on YouTube.
‘Where Do We Go From Here?’ The UCLA grad will next appear in Oprah Winfrey’s two-night town hall airing Tuesday and Wednesday at 9pm EST on OWN and Discovery’s cable networks
‘History helps us create the blueprint’: Fans can now stream two of Ava’s movies for free – Paramount Pictures released Selma on all platforms throughout June, and Netflix put her documentary 13th on YouTube