With the midterm elections coming up, Ava DuVernay’s latest documentary, “14th,” arrives at a pivotal time for the United States. Unlike the other buzzy films this season, it doesn’t tackle the dangers of AI or examine tech billionaires. Instead, it explores the 14th Amendment and its vital role in the fabric of American democracy.
The film argues that those foundational principles — along with the amendment’s prohibition against those who engage in insurrection serving as heads of state — have come under unprecedented pressure in recent years. Through interviews with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Rep.
Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), legal scholars Sherrilyn Ifill and Robert Chang, Stacey Abrams, social commentators Donald T. Critchlow and Hasan Piker and others, DuVernay explores the amendment’s history and contemporary implications. The Netflix film is set to close the New York Film Festival and will begin streaming on Dec. 9.
Variety sat down with DuVernay and editor-producer Spencer Averick to discuss their collaboration on the film, releasing a decade after DuVernay’s documentary “13th,” which examines the U.S. Constitution’s 13th Amendment. AVA DUVERNAY: We’ve gone through a decade of Trump.
When we were making “14th,” he was not yet president for the second time. But the world has changed. In that decade, there’s been an uptick in attacks on our democracy that captured my interest, particularly around conversations about who is an American.
Something said starkly by one of our commentators, Van Lathan Jr., is that if being born in America or going through the naturalization process doesn’t dictate that you’re American, then what does? Over the last decade, we’ve seen forces emerge that want to dictate what being American means. That’s at odds with our founding documents.
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