Ava DuVernay Returns to Documentaries (and to Netflix) with ’14th’ Amid Trump’s Challenge to Birthright Citizenship

A documentary on the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution doesn’t get more urgent than right now, when not two weeks ago the Supreme Court struck down an executive order from President Trump that would’ve ended birthright citizenship for children who are born to parents who are in the United States illegally or temporarily.

It’s fitting then that Ava DuVernay, who has some experience tackling the history of another Constitutional amendment, would be the one to grapple with this moment.

DuVernay is returning to Netflix, and to documentary filmmaking, with “14th,” a follow-up to her Oscar-nominated documentary “13th” from 10 years ago about the prison system in America. Her new film, which Netflix announced today and will debut on the streamer later this year, aims to bring the fight that has raged over this amendment for the last 150 years into the present. In the film, DuVernay speaks with scholars, politicians, and legal experts about who gets to belong in America and who writes the rules that dictate that.

“If ’13th’ asked who gets caged, then ’14th’ asks who gets counted,” DuVernay said. “This is not a film about the past tense of freedom. I’m not interested in asking you to look back. The film asks what kind of country is being written beneath our feet now … while we’re busy believing the stories we’ve all been told.”

DuVernay sits down with everyone from Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D) and Anna Paulina Luna (R) to former Senator Jeff Flake (R) and current Senator Alex Padilla (D), legal minds Sherrilyn Ifill, Robert Chang, and Stacey Abrams, conservative author Donald T. Critchlow, cultural critic Hasan Piker, and Pulitzer Prize winners Eric Foner and David Blight among the 50 expert interviews conducted by DuVernay.

DuVernay directed and produced. “14th” via her ARRAY banner. Spencer Averick, Tammy Garnes, and Paul Garnes are also producing.

Since bursting into the mainstream with “Selma” in 2014 and directing “13th” two years later, DuVernay has jumped back and forth between features and series. She also partnered with Netflix on the miniseries “When They See Us,” and since then she’s worked on “Queen Sugar,” “Naomi,” “The Queen,” and features “A Wrinkle in Time” and most recently “Origin” from 2023.

Adam Del Deo, Vice President of Documentary Film and Series at Netflix, said in a statement, “Ava’s remarkable ability to bring history into conversation with the present made her last documentary, the seminal BAFTA-winning and Academy Award®-nominated ’13th,’ a cultural touchstone of the last quarter century. With ’14th,’ she delivers another ambitious and thought-provoking documentary with the depth, artistry, and humanity that have come to define her work. We’re proud to continue our creative partnership with Ava and bring this powerful film to audiences around the world.”