The filmmaker and recent Golden Globe nominee Ava DuVernay will be a keynote speaker at the 2015 South by Southwest film conference and festival in Austin, organizers announced Tuesday. The news comes as Ms. DuVernay is making a transition into studio filmmaking (and building Oscar momentum) with her Martin Luther King Jr. biopic “Selma,” but her indie roots, as well as her previous work in marketing and publicity, are likely to be discussed.
Writing about Ms. DuVernay earlier this month, the film critic Manohla Dargis said, “Even before ‘Selma,’ Ms. DuVernay had beaten the terrible odds that women face by making her own movies on her own terms.”
The festival also announced that the recording artist and film composer RZA will be a keynote speaker as well. The festival will run March 13-21.