Ava DuVernay Celebrates News of New Hurricane Katrina Film

By Jamilah King Jan 27, 2015

Pardon the excessive Ava DuVernay love around these parts, but news dropped on Monday that she’s set to write, produce and direct a new film based on Hurricaine Katrina. DuVernay is teaming up yet again with David Oyelowo, the actor who’s already starred in two of her production, "Middle of Nowhere" and "Selma," and the two are working with Participant Media on the new project. 

August will mark the 10th anniversary that the devestating storm tore through gulf coast and the U.S. government neglected hundreds of thousands of black residents. Participant Media’s Jonathan King, who will serve as executive producer of the film, said that DuVernay is the ideal director to tackle such tragedy. 

"Hurricane Katrina is one of the most important social and environmental stories of our time," said King. "Ava DuVernay has shown herself to be highly skilled at bringing intimacy and contemporary urgency to epic events. We have been looking for the right way to get back in business with Ava, and with David Oyelowo, and are proud to re-team with them on her original idea, which we believe will be a powerful film."

DuVernay celebrated the news with a simple Instagram post:

New news! xo

A photo posted by Ava DuVernay (@directher) on

(h/t Variety)