Ava DuVernay, whose film Selma has been nominated for best picture at this year’s Oscars, is to make a film set at the time of hurricane Katrina.
Variety reports that the as yet untitled film will be a love story and murder mystery starring David Oyelowo, the British actor who plays Martin Luther King Jr in Selma. DuVernay will write, produce and direct the film.
DuVernay said: “The story we’re interested in will explore the complexities of intimate relationships within times of chaos, while also examining the chaos itself. I’m looking forward to the journey.”
Jeff King, one of the film’s executive producers, added: “Hurricane Katrina is one of the most important social and environmental stories of our time. Ava DuVernay has shown herself to be highly skilled at bringing intimacy and contemporary urgency to epic events.”
The film will be DuVernay’s third collaboration with Oyelowo, the first being Middle of Nowhere, which won DuVernay a best director award at Sundance in 2012. Announcing the film, DuVernay described the actor as “always exquisite”.
No date has been set for the Katrina film. Last month, DuVernay told the Guardian that she was set to direct a 10-part cable TV series on the black experience in America. Oyelowo’s next film is Queen of Katwe, in which he stars with Lupita Nyong’o.
Though Selma is up for best film at the Oscars, the lack of nominations for DuVernay or Oyelowo provoked sharp criticism, moving the Academy president, Cheryl Boone Isaacs, to respond that the body was “committed to seeking out diversity of voice and opinion”.
