Ava DuVernay reunites with Netflix to write, direct Caste, based on Isabel Wilkerson's New York Times bestselling novel

Filmmaker Ava DuVernay is set to direct Caste, a drama based on Isabel Wilkerson’s critically-acclaimed novel, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents.

The project marks DuVernay’s third collaboration with Netflix after the documentary 13th and the miniseries When They See Us .

Here’s the announcement

Ava DuVernay will direct, write, and produce a film based on Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Pulitzer Prize winner Isabel Wilkerson. 
 
The New York Times bestselling novel chronicles how our lives are defined by a hierarchy of human divisions dating back generations. pic.twitter.com/kaXhy8Fe2I

— Netflix Queue (@netflixqueue) October 14, 2020

Wilkerson wrote she is overjoyed her book is getting a screen adaptation.

Read her tweet below

So this happened today. And I am overjoyed. Thank you, @ava, @netflix and all of the readers who have loved this book. https://t.co/GRCm6EuvW0

— Isabel Wilkerson (@Isabelwilkerson) October 14, 2020

Several celebrities, including Oprah Winfrey, Kerry Washington and Mindy Kaling, congratulated DuVernay on Twitter.

Check out their tweets here

Can’t wait to see what @ava does with @isabelwilkerson’s #Caste! It’s an absolute must-read for humanity and will surely become a must-watch film with her vision. Yay for you Avs!https://t.co/DHUstlyosi

— Oprah Winfrey (@Oprah) October 14, 2020

This is spectacular. Holy moly. I’m sooooooooo excited about this. @ava and @Isabelwilkerson - My deep love a gratitude to you both. https://t.co/l9ezsTXayK

— kerry washington (@kerrywashington) October 14, 2020

According to Variety, the film will use a multiple-story structure to examine the “unspoken system that has shaped America and chronicles how our lives today are defined by a hierarchy of human divisions dating back generations.”

DuVernay will also produce the movie, alongside ARRAY Filmworks’ Sarah Bremner and Paul Garnes.

Netflix executive Tendo Nagenda will partner with the Oscar-nominated director for the project, after working together on Disney’s A Wrinkle in Time, her 2018 adaptation of Madeleine L’Engle’s classic tale.

(With inputs from Press Trust of India)