Filmmaker Ava DuVernay has completed a new documentary titled ’14th,’ which examines the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution and the various efforts to restrict or rescind its protections. The project was motivated by developments earlier this year when the current administration moved to challenge birthright citizenship through executive action. DuVernay explained that while she initially set out to focus on this specific aspect of the amendment, her research revealed a broader, systematic effort to undermine multiple sections of the 14th Amendment.
The documentary represents a thematic follow-up to DuVernay’s 2016 Oscar-nominated film ’13th,’ which explored how the 13th Amendment’s exception clause for criminal punishment created a legal pathway for the continued oppression of Black Americans. The 14th Amendment, ratified during the Reconstruction era, contains five distinct sections addressing citizenship, equal protection, and due process rights. According to DuVernay, contemporary challenges to these provisions suggest an organized strategy rather than isolated incidents.
The film features interviews with approximately 50 subjects, all conducted personally by DuVernay. The interviewees represent a diverse range of perspectives and backgrounds, including historians, constitutional scholars, members of Congress, and younger content creators. Contributors include Yale professor David W. Blight, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author on Civil War history; congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez; and various other figures representing different ideological viewpoints. Conservative perspectives are presented by figures including congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna and others who question traditional interpretations of the amendment’s protections.
DuVernay characterized the 14th Amendment as complex legislation and noted that the documentary tracks recent developments in US policy that illustrate challenges to the rights it establishes. She emphasized her approach as that of an engaged citizen rather than a legal expert, and structured the film to present multiple generational and ideological perspectives on constitutional interpretation and American democracy.
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