A decade after 13th became a cultural touchstone, Ava DuVernay is returning to Netflix with 14th, a new documentary chronicling the enduring constitutional battle over the 14th Amendment. The film will premiere globally on Netflix on December 4, following a theatrical release in select US and UK theaters beginning November 27. It will make its world premiere at the 64th New York Film Festival on October 9, where it has been selected as the Closing Night film, marking DuVernay’s return to the festival a decade after 13th opened it in 2016.
Where 13th examined the 13th Amendment and the history of mass incarceration in America, 14th turns the lens to the 14th Amendment and the ongoing battle over who gets to be counted as a full citizen. Ratified in 1868 in the aftermath of the Civil War, the amendment was written to guarantee full and equal citizenship to all persons born or naturalized in the United States. Its three core provisions have shaped American law for over 150 years: the Citizenship Clause, currently at the center of major legal battles over birthright citizenship under the Trump administration’s immigration policies; the Equal Protection Clause, which served as the legal foundation for landmark rulings including Brown v. Board of Education and Obergefell v. Hodges; and the Due Process Clause.
“If 13th asked who gets caged, then 14th asks who gets counted,” DuVernay told Deadline. “This is not a film about the past tense of freedom. The film asks what kind of country is being written beneath our feet now, while we’re busy believing the stories we’ve all been told.”
The film draws on more than 50 interviews spanning the ideological spectrum, including Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Anna Paulina Luna, former Senator Jeff Flake, Senator Alex Padilla, Stacey Abrams, NAACP Legal Defense Fund president Sherrilyn Ifill, legal scholar Robert Chang, cultural critic Hasan Piker, conservative author Donald T. Critchlow and Pulitzer Prize winners Eric Foner and David Blight.
14th is directed and produced by DuVernay alongside longtime collaborators Spencer Averick, Tammy Garnes and Paul Garnes through ARRAY Filmworks.
“With 14th, she delivers another ambitious and thought-provoking documentary with the depth, artistry and humanity that have come to define her work,” said Adam Del Deo, Netflix’s VP of Documentary Film and Series. “We’re proud to continue our creative partnership with Ava and bring this powerful film to audiences around the world.”
14th arrives on Netflix December 4, 2026.