In the summer of 2011 , DuVernay began production on her second narrative feature film , '' Middle of Nowhere '' , from a script she had written in 2003 but could not get financed then . The film had its world premiere on January 20 at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival , where it played in U.S. dramatic competition and garnered the U.S. Directing Award : Dramatic for DuVernay . She was the first African-American woman to ever win the prize . DuVernay also won the 2012 Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award for her work on the film
2012 Sundance Film Festival
2012 Sundance Film Festival
Ava DuVernay