Last week, Netflix dropped that they were back in the Ava DuVernay business when it was announced that her new docu would open sometime this year….now the New York Film Festival folks announce that 14th will close the fest (October 9th) — and what is neat is that the fest hosted the world premiere of DuVernay’s 13th exactly a decade ago. Since then, an alarming number of our democratic norms and principles have eroded, further disenfranchising Black Americans. In response to our distressing new reality, DuVernay has created a thrillingly expansive sequel of sorts, which passionately and persuasively details how the tenets of the 14th Amendment, ratified post–Civil War, are now under systematic attack. Look for the world premiere to bring some of the elites from the democratic party. Here is Ava and Dennis Lim comments on the selection.
“Exactly a decade after 13th opened the New York Film Festival, it feels especially meaningful to return with 14th as the 2026 Closing Night Selection,” said DuVernay. “NYFF has always been a place where films invite conversation rather than simply applause. To that end, 14th attempts to interrogate a promise powerful enough to change a nation—and controversial enough to divide it for more than 150 years. There’s no better place to begin that conversation than NYFF. I’m grateful to Dennis Lim and team for believing in work that asks difficult questions, and I’m honored to share this film with New York audiences first. On behalf of everyone who worked to tell this story, we hope it leaves people debating, questioning, and, above all, imagining what is still possible.”
“We are honored to close this edition of the New York Film Festival with Ava DuVernay’s supremely timely follow-up to 13th,” said Dennis Lim, NYFF Artistic Director. “14th is a movie for the moment that sees through the fog of the present. The great gift of this urgent and essential work is its clarity: Ava has made a film that shows us precisely what led us here, and what is at stake right now.”
