Ava Marie DuVernay ( ; born August 24 , 1972 ) is an American filmmaker and film distributor . She won the directing award in the U.S. dramatic competition at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival for her second feature film '' Middle of Nowhere '' , becoming the first black woman to win the award . For her work on '' Selma '' ( 2014 ) , DuVernay became the first black woman to be nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Director , and also the first black female director to have her film nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture . In 2017 , she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for her film '' 13th '' ( 2016 )
2012 Sundance Film Festival
2012 Sundance Film Festival
Ava DuVernay