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Ava DuVernay arrives at the 2020 Vanity Fair Oscar Party held at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the...

Source: WENN/Avalon / WENN

Ava DuVernay, one of the most acclaimed filmmakers of our time, recently hosted a conversation with two of her cinematic heroes, Julie Dash and Euzhan Palcy on YouTube.

In the conversation, billed as “Academy Dialogues: Broadening the Aperture of Excellence” the filmmakers discuss their own work (Dash’s “Daughters of the Dust” and Palcy’s “Sugar Cane Alley), falling in love with film, the Black Film Renaissance of the 80’s & ’90’s, their mutual admiration for Kathleen Collins, cultivating an audience, the idea of mastery and their messages for the younger generation of filmmakers. They also discussed whether there is an objective form of measurement in the arts, and how the Hollywood system can broaden its aperture to appreciate storytelling from the worldviews of different ethnic and racial communities.

Check out the full discussion below:

Who are some filmmakers who have inspired you? Which of the filmmakers recommendations do you plan to check out first? What’s your definition of mastery? What are some of your favorite projects from the Black Film Renaissance? What’s your favorite Ava DuVernay project? Have you seen “Daughters of the Dust” and “Sugar Cane Alley”? What are your expectations of Ava DuVernay in her role as Academy governor?