Ava DuVernay To Give UCLA Film School Commencement Speech

EXCLUSIVE: Director Ava DuVernay will give the commencement speech this year for the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television, with the ceremony Friday also set to honor writer-director Justin Lin with the Distinguished Alumni Award in Film/Television/Digital Media and actor Michael Stuhlbarg the Distinguished Alumni Award in Theater.

The ceremony, on Friday from 2-4 PM at UCLA’s Royce Hall, will also recognize Swarovski executive board member Nadja Swarovski with the school’s Distinguished Service Award.

“It is a great honor to have such remarkable artists and industry leaders on the stage with us at our Commencement this year,” dean Teri Schwartz said. “All are being recognized at this year’s commencement ceremony for the outstanding contributions they have made in their respective fields. They are bold artists and leaders with remarkable vision and creative force to inspire and galvanize our graduates to use their work to not only to delight and entertain, but also enlighten, engage and inspire change for a better world.”

Last month, USC’s School of Cinematic Arts had NBCUniversal vice chairman Ron Meyer do the commencement speech honors.