this image is not availablepinterest
Hellin Kay

To read all of the honorees' funny and revealing stories, check out the full feature exclusively in the November issue of ELLE—available digitally and in select cities now, and on newsstands nationwide October 20. 

Selma star and rapper Common on working with DuVernay:

"[She] created an environment where we felt like we were doing something with a higher purpose."

On her film, Venus vs. Venus:

"It was fascinating to really explore Venus Williams as the first of her kind, the first to break down the wall—so young, so graceful, so gracious, so at the top of her game."

On the process of creating the Oscar-winning Selma: 

"It was important to me when I took over the film and rewrote the script that there were those silences and spaces where these icons are being people."

Ava DuVernay wears a silk dress from Calvin Klein Collection and a copper, zinc, and silicium earring from Balmain. Photographed by Paola Kudacki. Styled by Simon Robins.