It’s turning into Ava DuVernay week, and that’s just fine by us. Yesterday, it was announced that the “Selma” director would be hitting the New York Film Festival to debut her surprise new documentary “The 13th,” but that’s not all we’ll be getting this fall from the filmmaker. DuVernay has also taken her storytelling powers to TV, where she’ll be launching the drama series “Queen Sugar” on Oprah Winfrey‘s OWN Network.
READ MORE: Watch: First Trailer For Ava DuVernay’s TV Series ‘Queen Sugar’
Based on the book by Natalie Baszile, and starring Rutina Wesley, Dawn-Lyen Gardner, and Kofi Siriboe, the story is set in Saint Josephine, Louisiana and centers around the estranged Bordelon siblings who are forced to come together after their father suffers a stroke. Here’s the synopsis:
The contemporary drama begins as Charley, a savvy and spirited woman living an upscale Los Angeles lifestyle, returns to her family home – an 800-acre sugarcane farm in the heart of Louisiana – when her father has a stroke. There, she reunites with her estranged siblings Nova and Ralph Angel, who are each navigating their lives and love relationships. Together, they must learn to rely on one another as they inherit the family farm and attempt to rebuild both the land and their relationships.
DuVernay has directed the first two episodes of “Queen Sugar” (every episode was directed by a woman, by the way), which will debut on back-to-back nights on September 6th and 7th. After that the series will air weekly on Wednesdays at 10 PM.
Watch the trailer at Entertainment Weekly.
Meanwhile, DuVernay was on the Film Society of Lincoln Center’s The Close-Up podcast discussing her new, racial inequality documentary “The 13th,” which will open up the New York Film Festival (it should be noted that it’s a first for a non-narrative film to open the festival). As usual, it’s a fascinating chat. Listen below.
