Origin | Dir: Ava DuVernay | ★ ★ ★ ★ ★
This ambitious film from American film director Ava DuVernay poses some huge questions. Why do humans oppress other humans? What is the basis for one group of people to be able to use discrimination as a weapon to ensure their superiority? How does valuing one group of people over another perpetuate injustice and become incorporated into the very structures of societies?
Based on the 2020 non-fiction book by Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Isabel Wilkerson, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor portrays a determined and dignified Wilkerson as she goes to three countries to research her book and argue her thesis.
Whilst the book is an academic journey, DuVernay personalizes the film by including Wilkerson’s personal journey and the personal journeys of individuals affected by prejudices because, after all, the personal is political.
Originally, Wilkerson was approached by her editor to write about the murder of 17 year-old Trayvon Martin, a Black teenager walking home through a predominately White neighbourhood. Although unarmed, he was shot by a Neighbourhood Watch volunteer who was initially not charged, but then was found not guilty.
The film opens with a traumatic reenactment of the 2012 Florida killing using 911 recordings that include the shot being fired. It is easy to see how public outrage was ignited by that single gunshot, and protests were mounted to raise awareness about injustice in the lives of many Black Americans.
Then Wilkerson draws a line that connects America’s prevalent racism to the horrors of the slave trade, the Holocaust in Nazi Germany and the creation of ‘untouchables’ in India. With a running time of 141 minutes, there is a lot to digest, but DuVernay creates so much empathy for individual stories, there is never a lull.
One such story is of 11 year-old Al Bright, the only Black boy in his Little League team. While his teammates celebrated winning a season in 1951 with a swim at the local pool on an extremely hot day, Bright was denied entrance and sat outside the wire fence.
Surviving witnesses are interviewed as the story gets worse.
When parents protested, the lifeguard cleared the pool to allow Bright in the pool on an inflatable raft for a short period of time – but he was not allowed to touch the water or the pool would have to be drained and the water sanitized.
Filmed in 37 days in three countries, this memorable film is a labour of love for producer, writer and director Ava DuVernay. Given what is happening in America in the run-up to their election, this must-see film is very timely.
Lezly Herbert
