Ava DuVernay knows the power of stories. Her Academy Award–nominated documentary 13th exposed the fundamental injustice of mass incarceration in the United States, her Emmy-nominated Netflix series When They See Us reframed the narrative for the unjustly convicted men known as the Central Park Five, and the continued breadth of her work stands as proof of her dedication to film as a world-changing medium.

DuVernay is also the spokeswoman and "champion" of Lenovo New Realities, a film series that used Lenovo's 360-degree Virtual Reality cameras and headsets to allow viewers a first-person look at the  lives of young woman who have found a way to use technology to change their life and communities. These women include Noi, a Japanese student who derives inspiration for robotics from her dozens of pets, to Ashwini, an Indian daughter of farmers who went from having zero access to technology to pursuing her education and becoming the only woman in the series to shoot her New Realities video without a backup crew.  Read more...