'Selma' director Ava DuVernay will helm a film set during Hurricane Katrina
DuVernay will also write and produce the movie, which will be 'a sweeping love story and complex murder mystery' set during the time of the hurricane. David Oyelowo of DuVernay's film 'Selma' may also appear in this film.
Ava DuVernay poses at the 2014 AFI Awards.
Kevork Djansezian/Reuters
Ava DuVernay, the director behind聽the Oscar-nominated Martin Luther King Jr. biopic "Selma," will write, produce, and direct a feature film set in the time of聽Hurricane Katrina, the company backing the film said on Monday.
David Oyelowo, who plays King in "Selma," is in talks to co-produce and star in the film, described by聽Participant聽Media as "a sweeping love story and complex murder mystery," set during the time of the 2005 hurricane that slammed into the U.S. Gulf Coast and deluged the city of聽New Orleans聽after levees broke.
DuVernay, the first African American woman nominated for a聽Golden Globe聽for directing, was hired by聽ParticipantMedia, which was founded in 2004 by billionaire and former eBay President Jeff Skoll to produce entertainment programming that inspires social change.
The announcement comes less than two weeks after she was passed over for an聽Oscar聽nomination for best director, an exclusion that fueled a debate over the lack of diversity in this year's聽Academy Awards聽nominations.
"Selma," a $20 million movie from聽Paramount Pictures, did secure a Best Picture聽Oscar聽nomination.
"Ava DuVernay聽has shown herself to be highly skilled at bringing intimacy and contemporary urgency to epic events,"聽Jonathan King,聽Participant's executive vice president of narrative film, said in a statement.
Katrina has not featured widely in the film world, especially in feature form. Director聽Spike Lee聽made the documentary, "When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts," which aired on HBO in 2006.
DuVernay said the story "will explore the complexities of intimate relationships within times of chaos, while also examining the chaos itself."