This is the Life (2008) Directed by Ava DuVernay September 15 - Sunday - 6:30 p.m. Championed as one of the “must-see hip-hop documentaries” by the LA Weekly, Ava DuVernay’s award-winning directorial debut, This is the Life, documents the progressive hip-hop scene that coalesced in 1990s Los Angeles around The Good Life Café’s weekly open-mic nights. DuVernay (also seen here as MC Eve of Figures of Speech) traces the origins and legacy of The Good Life scene as an alternative musical and lifestyle movement asserting itself against the city’s dominant gangster rap culture. DuVernay’s first experiences with self-distribution for This is the Life informed the strategy behind her creation of AFFRM. (2K DCP. 97 min. Not Rated.) Jorgensen Guest Filmmaker Lecture with Ava DuVernay Friday - September 20 - 3:00 p.m. Venus VS (2013) Directed by Ava DuVernay September 19 - Thursday - 7:00 p.m. DuVernay goes back to her beginnings in documentary to trace Venus Williams’ courageous call for financial parity in professional tennis. Taking her lead from pioneering tennis champion Billie Jean King, Williams was instrumental in influencing officials at Wimbledon and the French Open to award equal prize money to both men and women players. In 2007, Williams won the women’s single title at Wimbledon, becoming the first woman to benefit from this change of policy, earning the same amount as Roger Federer, her male counterpart. Produced for ESPN’s Nine for IX, Venus VS premiered this year at the Los Angeles Film Festival. Director Ava DuVernay is scheduled to be present. (HD Cam. 60 min. Not Rated.) cinema.indiana.edu Ava DuVernay 13