The world premiere of Ava DuVernay’s ’14th’ at the New York Film Festival was more than just a night at the movies.
A decade after 13th opened at the festival, ‘14th’ returned to make a powerful impact and closed out its 64th edition with a true statement piece.
Frame by frame our American history is represented in a glorious execution of artistry that proves what we all have in common as humans. Mankind must learn from this film and never forget that the constitution must not be take for granted and these are words meant to create equality and harmony amongst each and everyone of us.
At the famed Alice Tully Hall in attendance were director and producer Ava DuVernay, producers Tammy Garnes, Paul Garnes, and Spencer Averick. Notable attendees included Gayle King, Katie Holmes, Fran Dresher, Robert Glasper, and three members of The Exonerated Five, along with documentary participants, Stacey Abrams, Ambassador Jeff Flake, Sherrilyn Ifill, Van Lathan, and Dr. David Blight.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 09: Donald Critchlow, Adam Domby, Sherrilyn Ifill, Spencer Averick, Sarah Elizabeth Lewis, David W. Blight, Robert Chang, Amanda Frost, Deborah Archer, Jeff Flake, Karen Cox, Melissa Murray, Paul Farber, Ava DuVernay, Stacey Abrams, Tammy Thomas Garnes, Paul Garnes, Van Lathan, Robert Glasper, Bryn Mooser and William Powell attend Netflix’s “14TH” New York Film Festival Closing Night Premiere & Reception at Alice Tully Hall on October 09, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Marleen Moise/Getty Images for Netflix)
A decade after her Academy Award–nominated and Emmy Award–winning documentary 13th, DuVernay is turning her lens on the 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 09: Daniel Battsek speaks onstage during Netflix’s “14TH” New York Film Festival Closing Night Premiere & Reception at Alice Tully Hall on October 09, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Marleen Moise/Getty Images for Netflix)
Written in the wreckage of the Civil War, the 14th Amendment was meant to close the door on the hierarchy of human worth. Instead, it has become the subject of a permanent argument. DuVernay’s 14th pulls this constitutional fight out of the footnotes and into the present, chronicling the vicious battle over the amendment that has raged for over 150 years. Threading deep archival scholarship with piercing headlines from today, 14th brings together legal minds, politicians, historians, and cultural voices in direct conversation with a question America still hasn’t settled: Who gets to belong?
NEW YORK, NEW YORK – OCTOBER 09: (L-R) Kevin Richardson, Raymond Santana, Ava DuVernay and Yusef Salaam attend Netflix’s “14TH” New York Film Festival Closing Night Premiere & Reception at Alice Tully Hall on October 09, 2026 in New York City. (Photo by Marleen Moise/Getty Images for Netflix)
The documentary will premiere globally on Netflix on Friday, December 4, following a theatrical release in select U.S. and U.K. theaters beginning Nov. 27.
