Ava DuVernay’s recent Netflix documentary, "13th," just picked up three Critics’ Choice Awards and is on the Oscar shortlist for best documentary. The film chronicles how the U.S. criminal justice system has been driven by racism from the days of slavery to today’s era of mass incarceration.

The film is named for the constitutional amendment that abolished slavery with the exception of punishment for crime. Ava DuVernay’s previous work includes the hit 2014 film "Selma," which told the story of the campaign led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and others to draw the nation’s attention to the struggle for equal voting rights by marching from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama, in March of 1965. With "Selma," DuVernay became the first African-American female director to have a film nominated for best picture at the Academy Awards.

Ava DuVernay Documentaries Netflix