Ava DuVernay: Hollywood 'intentionally' chooses not to hire black actors

Ava DuVernay thinks Hollywood "intentionally" choose not to hire black actors or filmmakers.

The 'Selma' director believes the film industry is putting "effort" into excluding men and women of colour from having their own chance at fame and fortune.

She said: "I would say that it's quite intentional. You're basically saying, 'This is what we want, and this is what we're going to have.' There's no way you can tell me that there hasn't been effort put into exclusion."

DuVernay set up her own organisation, Array Now, back in 2010, where she funds a number of movies by minority directors.

She added: "I wanted to make films about the interiority of women of colour, people of colour, and I knew there wasn't a large market out in the studio system for those kinds of films, so I decided to just distribute on my own.

"It started as a function of survival. I just finance it from my directing money and from donations from those who believe in inclusive film ... What you see you become, what you see increases your knowledge about the world and your place in it. It's imperative to equalise the playing field." And the 45-year-old filmmaker has made a point of hiring only female directors to work on her OWN Network drama 'Queen Sugar'.

She told People magazine: "It's not hard, it just takes intention. I've heard some people say it's reverse discrimination, but I can barely fix my mouth to answer a statement as ignorant as that. We're trying to correct, lead by example. It's an act of resistance."