Ava DuVernay's '14th' Documentary Lands on Netflix
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- Ava DuVernay is reuniting with Netflix for "14th," a documentary on the 14th Amendment launching later this year — over a decade after her Oscar-nominated, Peabody-winning "13th" (2016).
- The 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868 during Reconstruction, centers on equal protection and citizenship; DuVernay frames the film as asking "who gets counted" and directly targets "ongoing vitriolic MAGA attacks" on birthright citizenship and immigrants.
- Array Filmworks is producing, with DuVernay alongside Spencer Averick, Tammy Garnes, and Paul Garnes; the project has been in production "discreetly for well over a year."
- The documentary features a cross-ideological interview slate spanning Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), former GOP Sen. Jeff Flake, Sen. Alex Padilla (D-CA), Stacey Abrams, conservative author Donald T. Critchlow, and Twitch critic Hasan Piker.
- Sitting Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden, fired by Trump in May 2025, is among the film's interviewees — a notable inclusion given DuVernay's stated focus on present-day constitutional battles, not history.
- Netflix VP of Documentary Film Adam Del Deo called DuVernay's "13th" "a cultural touchstone of the last quarter century," framing "14th" as a continuation of their creative partnership that also produced "When They See Us" (2019) and "Colin in Black & White" (2020).
Why it matters: DuVernay's documentary lands while the 14th Amendment faces renewed legal and political assault — from MAGA challenges to birthright citizenship to Trump's May 2025 firing of Librarian of Congress Carla Hayden. By interviewing figures from AOC to Anna Paulina Luna and Jeff Flake, the film positions itself not as a retrospective but as a direct intervention in present-day constitutional fights, giving Netflix a prestige documentary timed to ongoing national debates over who qualifies as American.
