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Welcome to the Scene 2 Seen Podcast. I am Valerie Complex, an associate editor and film writer at Deadline.
As schedules go, they could not record together, so we’re having another double episode today, but this time with Origin director Ava DuVernay and the film’s star Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor.
Origin is based on Isabel Wilkerson’s 2020 bestseller Caste: The Origin of Our Discontents and tracks the Pulitzer Prize winner’s creative and personal journey over several continents through grief, revelation and the evils of historical stratification. The film draws parallels between historical and modern-day oppression and persecution across the world. By weaving global threads of cruelty and dehumanization together, it underscores the timeless – and timely – dangers of extremist ideology and leaders who exploit prejudice.
King Richard Oscar nominee Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor plays Wilkerson, and she’ll also be featured in Netflix/Lee Daniels’ film The Deliverance opposite Andra Day and Glenn Close, Supremes-At-Earl’s All You Can Eat opposite Uzo Aduba and Sanaa Lathan for Searchlight/Hulu, The Nickel Boys for MGM with Plan B.
Aunjanueis also has 2 Emmy Nominations her portrayal of Sharone Salaam in Ava DuVernay’s Netflix limited series When They See Us, and the second for her performance in the JJ Abrams and Jordan Peele-produced HBO series Lovecraft Country.
Director Ava DuVernay’s feature work includes the Academy Award winning historical drama Selma; the Academy Award nominated criminal justice documentary 13TH; the Sundance Best Director Award win for her micro-budgeted romance Middle of Nowhere and Disney’s A Wrinkle In Time, which made her the highest grossing Black woman director in American box office history.
In 2019, her four-part television series When They See Us was honored with 16 Emmy nominations. DuVernay’s critically acclaimed TV series Queen Sugar is the longest-running Black family drama series by a Black woman creator in American television history. She amplifies films by people of color and women of all kinds through her non-profit narrative change collective ARRAY, which is the winner of the Peabody Institutional Award.
On today’s episode, Ava and Aunjanue discuss the power of film to raise awareness, they talk about the journey of bringing Isabel Wilkerson’s book to life, and why filming Origin is was a deeply personal experience for them both.
**If you like what you hear, be sure to review, like, and subscribe to the Scene to Seen Podcast on Apple, Spotify, and iHeart.**
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