Exclusive: Ava DuVernay on telling Colin Kaepernick's story in Colin in Black and White
Now playing on Netflix is its limited series Colin in Black and White, co-created by Ava DuVernay and Colin Kaepernick. Launching on October 29, 2021, Colin in Black and White consists of six 30-minute episodes.
From co-creators Ava DuVernay and Colin Kaepernick comes Colin in Black and White, a bold new limited series that chronicles Kaepernick’s coming of age story, tackling the obstacles of race, class and culture as the Black adopted child of a white family. Colin in Black & White stars Jaden Michael as Young Colin before reaching the highest levels of American football as an NFL quarterback and becoming a cultural icon and activist; Nick Offerman and Mary-Louise Parker as his well-meaning parents Rick and Teresa; and Colin Kaepernick himself, who appears as the present-day narrator of his own story, guiding viewers through a robust and colorfully presented array of historical and contemporary contextual moments. You don’t know Kaepernick until you know Colin.
For DuVernay, the former publicist-turned-director has continued to advocate for stories that need to be told. From Middle of Nowhere to the Oscar nominated films Selma and 13th, as well as the Netflix drama limited series When They See Us, based on the 1989 Central Park jogger case. When Colin Kaepernick was shunned by the NFL after kneeling in protest to the brutality faced by Blacks at the hands of the police, DuVernay felt she could explore the roots of Kaepernick’s background to gain insight to his historical move. In speaking with BlackFilmandTV.com’s Wilson Morales, DuVernay goes over her direction, working with Kaepernick, and what she wants audiences to get from watching the series.