News Analysis India

Tag: Origin

  • Ava Duvernay becomes the first African-American woman in competition at Venice Film Festival

    By Online Desk

    On Wednesday, Ava DuVernay became the first African-American woman director to present a movie in competition at the Venice Film Festival.

    Her latest film, Origin, made waves at the festival during its world premiere, earning her a nine-minute standing ovation.

    During the eight-decade-long history of the famous festival, it was the first time that a film by an African-American woman director was included in their official competition.

    At a press conference on Wednesday, DuVernay mentioned how Black US filmmakers are led to believe by the industry that they can’t be a part of international film festivals and it is not a place for them. 

    “I can’t tell you how many times I have been told: ‘Don’t apply for Venice, you won’t get in’. And this year it happened. Thank you. Something happened that hadn’t happened in eight decades before, an African American woman in competition,” she said, as quoted in media reports.

    At #VeniceFilmFestival. director Ava DuVernay explains why she chose to open and close ‘Origin’ with the image of Trayvon Martin pic.twitter.com/Ulb7RuBzVH
    — The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) September 6, 2023
    Origin, a film made in 37 days, is inspired by the life and work of Pulitzer-winning writer Isabel Wilkerson who has authored Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents.

    The film jumps between personal tragedies in Wilkerson’s own life to recreations of Nazi Germany, and the Jim Crow laws of racial segregation in the southern United States, among other historical indignities, as reported by Reuters. 

    DuVernauy’s film throws light on how people belonging to the lowered Dalit “untouchable” caste in India were dehumanized and pushed down to the bottom of society throughout history. “Wilkerson cast a light on (something) that our reader desperately needs to know or else we will be shooting at ourselves without even knowing why,” Suraj Yengde told Reuters. He is an award-winning Dalit scholar from Oxford who plays himself in the movie.

    DuVernay was also the first African-American woman to direct a film nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture (Selma). 

    She made her directorial debut with I Will Follow in 2010. She has also won several awards at the Prime Time Emmys, BAFTAs, and Golden Globes.

    On Wednesday, Ava DuVernay became the first African-American woman director to present a movie in competition at the Venice Film Festival.

    Her latest film, Origin, made waves at the festival during its world premiere, earning her a nine-minute standing ovation.

    During the eight-decade-long history of the famous festival, it was the first time that a film by an African-American woman director was included in their official competition.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });

    At a press conference on Wednesday, DuVernay mentioned how Black US filmmakers are led to believe by the industry that they can’t be a part of international film festivals and it is not a place for them. 

    “I can’t tell you how many times I have been told: ‘Don’t apply for Venice, you won’t get in’. And this year it happened. Thank you. Something happened that hadn’t happened in eight decades before, an African American woman in competition,” she said, as quoted in media reports.

    At #VeniceFilmFestival. director Ava DuVernay explains why she chose to open and close ‘Origin’ with the image of Trayvon Martin pic.twitter.com/Ulb7RuBzVH
    — The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) September 6, 2023
    Origin, a film made in 37 days, is inspired by the life and work of Pulitzer-winning writer Isabel Wilkerson who has authored Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents.

    The film jumps between personal tragedies in Wilkerson’s own life to recreations of Nazi Germany, and the Jim Crow laws of racial segregation in the southern United States, among other historical indignities, as reported by Reuters. 

    DuVernauy’s film throws light on how people belonging to the lowered Dalit “untouchable” caste in India were dehumanized and pushed down to the bottom of society throughout history. “Wilkerson cast a light on (something) that our reader desperately needs to know or else we will be shooting at ourselves without even knowing why,” Suraj Yengde told Reuters. He is an award-winning Dalit scholar from Oxford who plays himself in the movie.

    DuVernay was also the first African-American woman to direct a film nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture (Selma). 

    She made her directorial debut with I Will Follow in 2010. She has also won several awards at the Prime Time Emmys, BAFTAs, and Golden Globes.

  • WHO Says Foreign Experts Will Visit China To Probe COVID-19 Origin

    China has reassured that it would allow international experts to get inside the country in order to investigate the animal origins of COVID-19, World Health Organization said on November 23. The UN agency, in July, had sent a team of experts to lay the groundwork for investigation. However, it has remained unclear whether international scientists would be allowed inside China to conduct epidemiological studies and identify the first human cases of COVID-19 and source of infection.  

    But Michael Ryan, WHO emergency director, speaking at a virtual press conference said that they have got reassurance from the Chinese government that their “trip to field” would be facilitated and be held as soon as possible. “We need to be able to have the international team join our Chinese colleagues… and look at the results and the outcomes of (their) studies and verify the data on the ground,” he added.

    Scientists across the world believe that the virus jumped from bats to humans in a market selling exotic meat in Wuhan. However, lately, many have opined that the COVID-19 may have emerged at a place where the infection was amplified. Many experts also believe that intermediate host animals such as pangolins might have expedited the spread.

    WHO has been trying to send a team to China since the beginning of the outbreak, however, it has been stalled owing to denial of permissions by China’s communist government. However, with the recent reassurance, experts are now hoping to find the origin of the COVID-19 virus which has killed over 1396359 people across the world with over 257671 only in America.