Director Ava DuVernay has just become the first African-American woman to direct a live-action film with a budget of over £76 million. 

According to The Los Angeles Times, the director of Selma has made history as the director of Disney's up-coming film adaptation of Madeline L'Engle's novel, A Wrinkle In Time. 

Starring Oprah Winfrey, the film is set to be released in 2017 and will reportedly bring in £65 million in spending and an additional investment of £14 million, making DuVernay one of the few female film directors who have been in charge of such a high budget production. 

Oprah Winfrey and Ava DuVernay on red carpet | ELLE UKpinterest
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The only other woman to have directed a film of a similar budget is Kathryn Bigelow, following the release of K-19: The Widowmaker, who incidentally is the only woman to have won an Oscar for Best Director. 

Sensing a pattern here?

Ava DuVernay poses for a portrait at the 46th NAACP Image Awardspinterest
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Ava DuVernay poses for a portrait at the 46th NAACP Image Awards

Despite DuVernay's achievement, the announcement also serves as a reminder of the on-going prejudice towards women and African-Americans in Hollywood. 

The blog Woman and Hollywood says: 'This is a normal path for male directors, but one rarely accessible to women.'

Meanwhile, others have taken to Twitter to highlight the film industry's shocking history of bias. 

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We look forward to the day when news like this isn't news. 

Keep the change coming. 

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Katie O'Malley
Site Director

Katie O'Malley is the Site Director on ELLE UK. On a daily basis you’ll find Katie managing all digital workflow, editing site, video and newsletter content, liaising with commercial and sales teams on new partnerships and deals (eg Nike, Tiffany & Co., Cartier etc), implementing new digital strategies and compiling in-depth data traffic, SEO and ecomm reports. In addition to appearing on the radio and on TV, as well as interviewing everyone from Oprah Winfrey to Rishi Sunak PM, Katie enjoys writing about lifestyle, culture, wellness, fitness, fashion, and more.