MIDDLE OF NOWHERE Written and Directed by Ava DuVernay WINNER! BEST DIRECTOR AWARD SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL 2012 PRESS CONTACT: Tilane Jones | AFFRM | 818.995.0050 | [email protected] PRESS QUOTES NEW YORK TIMES January 27, 2012 | "Amazing Child, Typical Grown-Ups" by Manohla Dargis "Further under the radar though far more successful is "Middle of Nowhere," a heartfelt, slow to build, slow to burn drama from Ava DuVernay about a young married woman, Ruby (Emayatzy Corinealdi), keeping body and soul together while her husband, Derek (Omari Hardwick), serves out his sentence in a California prison. Working with the terrific cinematographer Bradford Young, Ms. DuVernay fills her movie with long shots and meticulously framed images of casual beauty that reflect the quietly evolving inner life of her heroine." LOS ANGELES TIMES January 30, 2012 | "Sundance Film Festival: From 'Beasts' to 'Ice,' wonder wins out" by Kenny Turan "…At the other end of the spectrum is "Middle of Nowhere," winner of the U.S. drama directing prize for Ava DuVernay. This is classic filmmaking of a completely different sort…" THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER January 20, 2012 | Review by John DeFore "Strong performances and a restrained script sell drama about a couple separated by prison walls. Solidly crafted by budding writer-director Ava DuVernay, it should find a warm reception at fests and in a niche theatrical run." LOS ANGELES TIMES January 20, 2012 | "Meaty Roles for Black Actors in MIDDLE OF NOWHERE" "It's a real challenge to find African American characters with depth," Oyelowo said at a post-screening Q&A, "But when I read this, it was just like 'Do the Right Thing,' or 'She's Gotta Have It,' the characters just lept off the page.... Ava is transcending what is called 'black cinema." DEADLINE HOLLYWOOD January 27, 2012 | Sundance Lucky 13 "Publicist, writer, director, producer, Ava DuVernay is a film/TV vet as well as founder of the African- American Film Festival Releasing Movement. Now she is catching renewed buzz for her competition film Middle Of Nowhere about a woman who drops out of medical school to deal with her husband’s 8-year prison sentence." WALL STREET JOURNAL January 18, 2012 | "What Sundance is Really Like" by Ava DuVernay "I’m proud because, in the end, the film is the only thing that matters to filmmakers. The film is truly the thing we want. We want it to be deeply felt. We want it to be remembered. We want it to illuminate the corners. We want to be heard." LOGLINE: Winner of the Best Director Award at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, Ava DuVernay's MIDDLE OF NOWHERE is a portrait of a woman struggling between two worlds and two men in the search for herself. SYNOPSIS: What happens when love takes you places you never thought you would go? As Ruby (Emayatzy Corinealdi) rides a bus through the inner city streets, she wills herself to push away memories that crowd her. Four years earlier, she was a vibrant medical student married to the love of her life, Derek (Omari Hardwick). Now, she makes her way to the maximum security prison on the outskirts of town. This is where her love now resides. Behind coiled razor wire and forty foot concrete walls. As the couple stares into the hallow end of an eight-year prison sentence, Ruby must learn to live another life, one marked by shame and separation, by guilt and grief. Soon, her singular focus is to ensure Derek's survival in his violent new environment. She drops out of school to maintain her marriage from beyond bars. She fights to support her husband on the inside and survive her own identity crisis on the outside. Through a chance encounter and a stunning betrayal that shakes her to the core, Ruby is propelled in new and often frightening directions of self-discovery. As we chronicle her turbulent yet transformative journey, we witness the emergence of a broken woman made whole. SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL CAPSULE: “Ava DuVernay’s elegant and emotionally inspiring debut portrays the universal dilemma of how a woman maintains herself as she commits to loving and supporting someone through hardship. Featuring luminous performances by a cast of rising stars led by Emayatzy Corinealdi and Omari Hardwick, Middle of Nowhere infuses gravity and grace into the prison tale and marks the arrival of an important new directorial talent.” – Sundance Film Festival 2012 ABOUT THE PRODUCTION In 2002, entertainment publicist Ava DuVernay began writing a screenplay set in her hometown of Compton, California. A far cry from the high-profile films she represented for her studio clients, the script for MIDDLE OF NOWHERE evolved from observation, imagination and the desire to chronicle the ways we maintain love and cultivate hope when all seems lost. From the beginning of the writing process to the first shoot day in June 2011, DuVernay continued to represent her film and television clients, founded a minority film distribution company and directed a short, three documentaries and her first narrative feature, I Will Follow. With the indie box office success of I Will Follow in March 2011, DuVernay’s producing partner Howard Barish of Kandoo Films marshaled the financial resources in just three short months to make MIDDLE OF NOWHERE with private equity. In addition to Barish and DuVernay, veteran producer Paul Garnes (“Woman Thou Art Loosed”) and Tilane Jones of DuVernay’s Forward Movement banner rounded out the producing team. Production lasted 20 days in the summer of 2011 in California, specifically in South Central Los Angeles, Monterey Park and the San Fernando Valley. The cast came together quickly. Lead actress Emayatzy Corinealdi who portrays the main character “Ruby” was discovered through the audition process. “Emayatzy came in to read for another part, and I was immediately taken with her level of craft and her whole vibe. She brought such depth and nuance to the role,” explains DuVernay. “She’s named after a Panamanian princess, and she was our princess on set. A beautiful spirit. We were so fortunate to find her.” DuVernay had worked with actor Omari Hardwick (“For Colored Girls”) who portrays Ruby’s incarcerated husband “Derek” in her previous film, I WILL FOLLOW. She was eager to welcome the Atlanta native onto her new production. “Omari’s work is layered and vulnerable. Plus, we work very well together and he’s a real joy to have on set. So, that casting was a no-brainer for me. I was just lucky he wanted to come out and play with us again,” reports DuVernay. If casting Hardwick was a matter of easy choice, the casting of David Oyelowo (“Rise of the Planet of the Apes,” “The Help,” “Red Tails”) was a matter of wonderfully unexpected chance. Oyelowo happened to strike up a conversation with a gentleman sitting next to him on a plane bound for Toronto in May 2011. That man in the next seat happened to be one of MIDDLE OF NOWHERE’s investors, Rick Cohen. When Rick revealed that he was investing in DuVernay’s next film, Oyelowo asked to see the script as he was familiar with the director’s previous film and minority film distribution company, AFFRM. Upon reading the screenplay, Oyelowo immediately contacted DuVernay, who was already wildly interested in the actor based on previous work. Two weeks later, David was officially on board as Ruby’s new love interest, “Brian.” Veterans such as Lorraine Toussaint, Sharon Lawrence and Dondre Whitfield round out the stellar cast of emerging talent including Edwina Findley, Troy Curvey, Maya Gilbert and Nehemiah Sutton. DuVernay’s long-time editor Spencer Averick was the first member of the crew to join the picture. DuVernay and Averick have collaborated since 2007 on all her filmed projects, from the music documentaries This is The Life and My Mic Sounds Nice to network specials like Essence Music Festival and Black Girls Rock to the narrative feature film I Will Follow. Averick’s company Avelino Post also provides post-production services to the film. Cinematographer Bradford Young who won the award for Excellence in Cinematography at Sundance 2011 for Pariah was next to join MIDDLE OF NOWHERE. DuVernay and Young had collaborated previously on a documentary entitled My Mic Sounds Nice, and immersed themselves in establishing a visual language for the film that captured the intertwining of memory and reality, of romantic love and love as choice. Young shot on the Sony F35 with a crew consisting of veteran gaffer Christian Epps, key grip Armando Ballesteros and his long-time First AC Hans Charles. The post-production team is comprised of Sundance Composer Lab alumni Kathryn Bostic and sound designer Kunal Rujan returning to work with DuVernay following their collaboration with her on I Will Follow. Popular Los Angeles deejay on local NPR’s KPFK-FM Morgan Rhodes curated the soundtrack, corralling such eclectic Black Indie Soul artists as Me’shell Ndegeocello, Goapele, Fink, Ra-Re Valverde and more. ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS AVA DUVERNAY (Director, Writer, Producer) Ava DuVernay made her feature directorial debut with the critically-acclaimed 2008 hip hop documentary, "This is The Life." Winner of Audience Awards in Toronto, Los Angeles and Seattle, the LA WEEKLY raved, "This is The Life vaults into the upper echelons of must-see hip-hop documentaries." In 2010, she wrote, produced and directed the narrative feature, I Will Follow, starring Salli Richardson- Whitfield. Released theatrically in 2011, the family drama was hailed by critic Roger Ebert as "... one of the best films I've seen about the loss of a loved one." DuVernay directed and produced three network music documentaries in 2010.