14th will follow up on Ava DuVernay's exploration of racial injustice and raise questions on protection

14th is Ava DuVernay's upcoming Netflix documentary film, which is a follow-up to her 2016 docufilm, 13th. While 13th followed an exploration of the racial injustices prevalent in the US justice system, the upcoming documentary film will follow an exploration of how the 14th Amendment somehow doesn't apply for people of color in several instances.

The 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution guarantees equal protection of the laws and prohibits states from depriving anyone of life, liberty, or property without due process. That right is often taken away from individuals based on race, and the upcoming docufilm will be addressing that in detail.

What is 14th about?

13th was an extremely successful film that highlighted the racial injustices of the American legal system. The docufilm was nominated for several awards and won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special at the 69th Primetime Emmy Awards. The upcoming documentary film will hold up the racial injustices inflicted upon individuals who are suspected/accused of a crime but whose charges are yet to be processed.

As Tudum by Netflix reports, 14th

pulls this constitutional fight out of the footnotes and into the present, chronicling the vicious battle over the amendment that has raged for over 150 years. Threading deep archival scholarship with piercing headlines from today, 14th brings together legal minds, politicians, historians, and cultural voices in direct conversation with a question America still hasn’t settled: Who gets to belong?"

The documentary film will feature interviews with Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D) and Anna Paulina Luna (R), former Senator Jeff Flake (R), and current Senator Alex Padilla (D). Sherrilyn Ifill, Robert Chang, and Stacey Abrams are some of the legal experts who will also keep their opinions on the issues in the docufilm. Social commentators like author Donald T. Critchlow, cultural critic Hasan Piker, and Pulitzer Prize winners Eric Foner and David Blight are also going to feature in the upcoming docufilm.

Ava DuVernay also helps us understand how the docufilm will tackle the matter. As she said to Tudum by Netflix,

“If ’13th’ asked who gets caged, then 14th asks who gets counted. This is not a film about the past tense of freedom. I’m not interested in asking you to look back. 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.”

Thus, the docufilm isn't going to explore the injustices of the past but those happening in the present. Irrespective of how much many believe that racism and racism discrimination are over, we're far from that ideal situation. The docufilm will thus highlight instances of how not everyone gets protected under the system until due process.

The docufilm is directed and produced by Ava DuVernay. Spencer Averick, Tammy Garnes, and Paul Garnes are the other producers attached to the title.

14th will be first released at the New York Film Festival on October 9, 2026. It will then be released in select theaters in the U.S. and the U.K. on November 27, 2026. The documentary film will then be released on Netflix on December 4, 2026, for streaming.