Ava DuVernay has a vocation of some kind.
13th is a 2016 American documentary by director Ava DuVernay . Ava Marie DuVernay ( [ ˈeɪvə_ˌdjuːvərˈneɪ ] born August 24 , 1972 ) is an American director , screenwriter , film marketer , and film distributor . At the 2012 Sundance Film Festival , DuVernay won the Best Director Prize for her second feature film Middle of Nowhere , becoming the first African-American woman to win the award . In 2017 , she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for her film 13th ( 2016 ) .