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Ava DuVernay announces new Netflix documentary '14th' on contested amendment
🇺🇸 United States /Culture & Society

Ava DuVernay announces new Netflix documentary '14th' on contested amendment

From PBS NewsHour · () English

Translated from English, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

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  • Director Ava DuVernay has made a new documentary for Netflix titled "14th," focusing on the 14th Amendment and its legal challenges.
  • The film explores the amendment's history, which granted rights to formerly enslaved people and nullified the Dred Scott decision, and its current relevance.
  • President Donald Trump has actively contested the amendment, particularly birthright citizenship, leading to Supreme Court challenges and DuVernay's cinematic examination.

Filmmaker Ava DuVernay is returning to nonfiction with a new documentary for Netflix, titled "14th," which examines the 14th Amendment and its ongoing legal battles. The film, set for release later this year, follows DuVernay's 2016 work "13th," which explored the legacy of the amendment abolishing slavery.

If '13th' asked who gets caged, then '14th' asks who gets counted. This is not a film about the past tense of freedom. I'm not interested in asking you to look back. The film asks what kind of country is being written beneath our feet now … while we're busy believing the stories we've all been told.

— Ava DuVernayDuVernay described the film's focus and its connection to her previous work.

The 14th Amendment, ratified in 1868, guarantees citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States and has been a focal point of President Donald Trump's challenges. Trump's executive order aimed at restricting birthright citizenship was recently struck down by the Supreme Court. The amendment itself nullified the 1857 Dred Scott v. Sandford decision, which denied citizenship to people of Black descent.

DuVernay described the 14th Amendment as a "permanent argument," stating her film will feature politicians, historians, and cultural voices. "If '13th' asked who gets caged, then '14th' asks who gets counted," she said. "This is not a film about the past tense of freedom. I'm not interested in asking you to look back. The film asks what kind of country is being written beneath our feet now … while we're busy believing the stories we've all been told."

Citizenship, then and now, was the right to have rights, to freely participate in our political community. The Framers of the Fourteenth Amendment extended that promise to 'every free-born person in this land.' We keep that promise today.

— Chief Justice John RobertsRoberts wrote the Supreme Court's opinion upholding the 14th Amendment's protections.

Chief Justice John Roberts, writing for the Supreme Court majority, affirmed the amendment's promise of rights, stating, "Citizenship, then and now, was the right to have rights, to freely participate in our political community. The Framers of the Fourteenth Amendment extended that promise to 'every free-born person in this land.' We keep that promise today." Despite the ruling, Trump has vowed to continue contesting the decision, calling it a "miscarriage of justice."

This miscarriage of justice will destroy America if they don't change their absolutely insane decision.

— Donald TrumpTrump reacted to the Supreme Court's ruling on Truth Social.
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Originally published by PBS NewsHour in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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