Ava DuVernay is bringing PUBLIC FORUM: 14th to The Town Hall on Tuesday, December 1 at 7:00 p.m. The one-night event arrives just before 14th begins its theatrical release and days ahead of its global Netflix premiere.
The Public Theater announced the program on November 6, 2026, and framed it as a live extension of DuVernay’s film about the birth, legacy, and importance of the 14th Amendment. The format is built for an audience that wants more than a screening: historical texts and songs, clips from the film, a conversation with DuVernay, and a special conversation with Alicia Keys are all part of the night.
The Town Hall program
PUBLIC FORUM: 14th is scheduled as a single public event, not a run. That matters operationally for anyone planning to attend: there is one date, one time, and one venue, with The Town Hall carrying the entire presentation.
DuVernay said she never imagined expanding the histories and theories in the film through song, dance, and oration. She added, “This will be a truly one-of-a-kind experience.” For a project built around constitutional history, that live structure turns the film into a staged civic program rather than a standard post-screening talk.
Keys and the partnership
The event is presented in partnership with Netflix and Freedom Together Foundation, and it concludes with Alicia Keys, who is described as a 17-time Grammy Award-winning artist, songwriter, producer, and advocate of the People’s Bill of Rights 250. Her role closes the program with a separate conversation, which gives the evening a final guest and a clear endpoint instead of a loose panel format.
Deepak Bhargava said, “14th explains how today’s struggles about the future of multi-racial democracy have deep roots in our history.” He also said DuVernay shows that equality under the law has long been bitterly contested and that authoritarians are systematically chipping away at hard-fought rights. That language puts the film and the live event in the same frame: celebration, but also warning.
December rollout for 14th
14th begins its theatrical release in select U.S. and U.K. theaters on Friday, November 27, then premieres globally on Netflix on Friday, December 4. The timing gives the public forum a narrow window to shape how the film is received before it reaches theaters and then a global streaming audience.
DuVernay also said, “I hope it reminds us that history isn’t only something we study. It’s something we make. And the next chapter is ours.” For readers deciding whether to attend, the practical answer is simple: this is the only announced chance to see DuVernay and Keys in the same live Public Forum setting around 14th before the film’s wider release cycle begins.
