Speaking to NBC news, the passionate, intelligent and candid director remarked on the obstacles still facing her as a Black woman in Hollywood.
"Sure, that's all Hollywood is, is locks. A whole bunch of closed doors. Any film that you see that has any progressive spirits that is made by any people of color or a woman is a triumph, in and of itself. Whether you agree with it or not…When you just imagine that there's one type of voice that's really being pushed to the forefront is the white male voice. In terms of cinema, it's really clear that the rest of us are locked out. So it becomes imperative that people -- audiences that want to see that, fight for it, push for it. Support it when it comes, but also artists just become really vocal. So, yeah, it's a whole bunch of locked doors."
DuVernay also noted that the media perpetuates this sense that as a Black woman, she’s an outsider in the industry, as she’s still not asked the same questions as her White male counterparts.
"[Journalists] sit down with me – every time at the Selma junket, there was a moment when that was at the forefront, but films before that. Everything I do, it's always about the skin I'm in. I'm proud of it, it's fine to do it, but the space that I've created so that the people who have the same skin I'm in can talk about what we actually do for a living."
DuVernay’s comments come after Matt Damon was criticised for “whitesplaining” Hollywood’s lack of diversity to Effie Brown, an experienced Hollywood producer.
DuVernay says she started her podcast, The Call-In, so that Black filmmakers could talk about questions other than race in the film industry.
"One of the reasons why I created the podcast called The Call In that we do through Array is because as a black artist, every time I sit down with mainstream media I'm asked about issues of race, identity and culture. No one asked what they ask my white male counterparts, which is: 'Where do you like to put the camera?' 'How did you come up with that palette?' 'What was your conversation with your cinematographer?' 'How did you cast that person?' I never get asked just film craft questions."