Director Ava Duvernay Hates the Word ‘Snub’, Never Thought Selma Would Get Oscar Nom [AUDIO]

Ava Duvernay: They choose their friends, but I don’t know if it’s political. People choose their friends. It’s human nature. You choose who you know, choose who you are familiar with. I don’t know any directors in the director’s branch.

On hating the word “snubbed”: 

Ava Duvernay: I hate the word snubbed. I hate it, because it feels like I have my nose to the glass and someone pushed me back. And for me it’s just the way I make films. I wasn’t making films for the attempt to be in that room. I was making films because this film ‘Selma’; which you all will see is about the power of the people, and people raising their voices for a chance, for a reason, for resistance and for good. So yeah, it’s been an amazing beautiful journey, and time. And we have been nominated for best picture, best song by Common and Legend [John Legend] and its good things brewing and we go onward.

On if Selma wins best picture:

Ava Duvernay: I mean best picture is everyone you know, and as a director I stand there and represent everyone. It’s costumes, cinematography, its editing, it’s set designs, it’s music; it’s the actors, so sure the individual ones are lovely and I do believe that David Oyelewo who played Dr. King so beautifully should have been there because I know what he gave but there were a lot of great performances that didn’t get in. They didn’t choose us and that’s just it.

On receiving backlash for the portrayal of Lyndon Johnson in the film: 

Ava Duvernay: History is interpreted through its own lens and that is mine. I think all of us as custodians and guardians of his legacy are mad that its not pristine. But LBJ [Lydon B. Johnson] had a segregational voting record for 2 decades before he ever entered the oval office. He voted down voting rights and used the N word daily and is recorded. These are the things we would have put in if we wanted to destroy his legacy, but we didn’t. And in the end of [it] we celebrated him and people cheered for him so its bit of a head scratcher.

On getting approval for from the King family for the film: 

Ava Duvernay: We didn’t go to them for permission, this is not a film sanctioned by the estate. So it’s no one beautiful view of either man. It’s about Dr. King. We gave the family courtesy of seeing the script beforehand because that’s disrespectful to do a movie about their daddy and not letting you know. So we let them know, showed the script, shot the film and showed them afterwards. Bernice King approved and Martin Luther King III came to the screening in NY wand partied with us.

On foreigners funding the film: 

Ava Duvernay: Look, there is a lot of people that said they wanted to, but it’s been 50 years and it never happened. French Financiers Passe [Brad Pitt company] and English producers were the ones who put down the first chunk of money and was like, ‘Let’s do this’. It’s very important that you understand that people say black films don’t travel across seas, nobody is interested elsewhere but that’s not true. You definitely have to look at things in our cinema culture and the things audiences are interested in. There is a disconnect.

Press play to listen to the entire interview.

-@jaerich215