Ava DuVernay's '14th' to Close New York Film Festival, Hit Theaters in November, and Land on Netflix in December
Ava DuVernay's new documentary 14th will premiere globally on Netflix on December 4, following a theatrical run in select U.S. and U.K. cinemas beginning November 27, Variety reports.
Before either of those dates, the film holds its world premiere as the closing night selection of the 64th New York Film Festival on October 9, at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall. DuVernay and film participants will be in attendance, according to Film at Lincoln Center.
14th is a follow-up to DuVernay's acclaimed 2016 documentary 13th, which examined racial injustice within the American prison system and earned an Oscar nomination and a Peabody Award. The new film takes its name from the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, the post-Civil War amendment that guarantees due process and equal protection under the law. DuVernay's production company, ARRAY, announced the project with a pointed tagline: "If 13th asked who gets caged, then 14th asks who gets counted" (ARRAY).
The parallels between the two films extend to their festival paths. 13th opened the New York Film Festival a decade ago and debuted on Netflix on October 6, 2016 (Variety, 2017). Now 14th bookends the same festival as its closing night film, arriving on the same streamer a decade later.
DuVernay conducted more than 50 expert interviews for the documentary. The voices span both sides of the political aisle: Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D) and Anna Paulina Luna (R), former Senator Jeff Flake (R), and current Senator Alex Padilla (D) all appear. Legal scholars and advocates lending their perspectives include Sherrilyn Ifill, Robert Chang, Stacey Abrams, Donald T. Critchlow, Hasan Piker, Eric Foner, and David Blight (Variety).
That's a notably wide tent — a sitting progressive Democrat and a conservative Republican, a civil rights lawyer and a political historian, all within the same film.
The staggered release strategy — festival premiere in October, limited theatrical in November, global streaming in December — mirrors the awards-season playbook that Netflix has used for its prestige documentary titles. The theatrical window, even in a limited run, keeps the film eligible for industry honours that require cinema exhibition, while the December Netflix date positions it squarely in the awards conversation.
For audiences, the calendar is straightforward: catch it at Alice Tully Hall on October 9, in a participating cinema from November 27, or on Netflix from December 4.
