Origin : The Movie

Ava DuVernay is an inquisitive filmmaker, curious about social structures and collective grief. Her newest picture, the ambitious investigative film, “Origin,” has a scene that blends DuVernay’s interests with her rigor. Following a sold-out public talk for her book The Warmth of Other Suns, Isabel Wilkerson (Aunjanue Ellis) bumps into her persistent editor Amari (Blair Underwood) backstage. He wants her to write about the recent death of Trayvon Martin, a tragedy that is impacting the nation at the time. “You have a stable of writers,” Isabel playfully balks. “They don’t have Pulitzer Prizes,” he coolly resorts. Though it’s all done in jest, Isable does have a pragmatic reason for not jumping in. “I want to be in the story, really inside the story,” she says. “And yes, that takes time.” A methodological ethos for DuVernay’s career, the scene also explains the emotional labor required to watch “Origin.”