With ‘Origin’ and ‘Ferrari,’ Ava DuVernay and Michael Mann Refuse to Slow Down: ‘There’s No Retirement Happening’

variety.com:

Ava DuVernay and Michael Mann go way back. In 2003, DuVernay was a publicist on the set of Mann’s “Collateral.” Watching the auteur shoot in her old stomping grounds of East Los Angeles gave her the idea to pick up the camera. “That made me think, ‘Wow, this is possible,’” recalls DuVernay, sitting opposite the Oscar-nominated Mann to discuss where their careers have taken them in the 20 years since.

Now, DuVernay, an Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning filmmaker, tackles her most complex story yet with “Origin,” a sprawling yet intimate adaptation of Isabel Wilkerson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents.” The biographical drama follows Wilkerson (portrayed by Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor) as she writes her book at the same time that she grapples with her grief over a series of deaths.

Meanwhile, after three decades, Mann accomplished his dream of bringing race car magnate Enzo Ferrari’s story to the big screen.

Adam Driver stars in this thrill ride about the Ferrari founder’s struggles with his wife, Laura (Penélope Cruz), after the death of their son — made more complicated by his second family — and the flailing car company that hangs in the balance. AVA DUVERNAY: I’m so thrilled to be here with you.