Three Directors Get the Close-Up Usually Reserved for Their Stars

Ava DuVernay, Gina Prince-Bythewood and Beth de Araújo are the subjects of a new Elle conversation about the films that have had audiences talking all season. For once the attention lands on the women who called the shots rather than on the gowns that walked their premieres. It is a reminder that the most interesting credit on a poster is sometimes the one printed smallest, and that a director's name is worth learning before the carpet unrolls.

With reporting from Elle.