Award-winning studio NEON has acquired Oscar®-nominee Ava DuVernay’s Origin, in advance of its world premiere tomorrow in competition at the Venice Film Festival.  The film will also have a gala screening at the Toronto International Film Festival and stars Oscar® nominee Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Jon Bernthal, Niecy Nash-Betts, Vera Farmiga, Audra McDonald, Nick Offerman, Blair Underwood, Finn Wittrock, Jasmine Cephas-Jones and Connie Nielsen. NEON, which acquired the worldwide rights in a competitive bid, will release the film in theaters nationwide later this year.

Breaking ground as the first African-American woman director in competition in Venice Film Festival’s eighty-year history, DuVernay wrote, produced and directed Origin, which is inspired by the remarkable life and work of Pulitzer Prize winner Isabel Wilkerson as she pens her seminal book, Caste: The Origin of Our Discontents. While grappling with tremendous personal tragedy, Isabel sets herself on a path of global investigation and discovery. Despite the colossal scope of her project, she finds beauty and bravery while crafting one of the defining American books of our time.

Paul Garnes and DuVernay produced Origin under her ARRAY Filmworks banner. In addition to DuVernay and Garnes, the team of artists behind Origin was led by cinematographer Matthew J. Lloyd, ASC, production designer Ina Mayhew, editor Spencer Averick A.C.E, composer Kris Bowers, costume designer Dominique Dawson and casting director Aisha Coley. The deal was negotiated by Tom Quinn for NEON with CAA Media Finance on behalf of the filmmakers.