# Ava DuVernay’s new film examines threats to the 14th Amendment under Trump

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/ive-seen-people-in-my-neighbourhood-pulled-out-of-their-cars-ava-duvernay-on-the-cruelty-and-brutality-of-trumps-america/
- Published: 2026-11-08T10:00:36+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-08T10:47:22+00:00
- Original publisher: The Guardian (publisher lean: Left)
- Original article: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/nov/08/ava-duvernay-interview-trump-documentary-film-14th-amendment
- Topics: Americas, Culture, Entertainment, Film, World

## Key points

- Ava DuVernay’s new documentary explores challenges to the 14th Amendment.
- Trump’s January 2025 order prompted the film’s initial focus on birthright citizenship.
- DuVernay says filmmaking helped her channel fear and anger.

## Summary

Ava DuVernay says making her new documentary, *14th*, helped her channel fear and anger at immigration enforcement and political developments in the US. The film examines what she sees as attacks on the 14th Amendment under Donald Trump’s administration, including efforts to end birthright citizenship.

DuVernay began the project after Trump issued an executive order in January 2025 seeking to rescind birthright citizenship, a right protected by the amendment. Research led her to broaden the film’s focus to other parts of the amendment, which has five sections. *14th* follows her 2016 documentary *13th*, about the constitutional exception that permits forced labour as punishment for a crime and its impact on Black Americans.

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Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.