By Roxanne Roberts and Amy Argetsinge – The Washington Post.

Venus Williams

 Until 2007, just six years ago, the men received more prize money at Wimbleton than the women champions.  How that changed is the subject of DuVernay’s new documentary “Venus Vs.”  The film tells the little-known story of how Venus Williams took on the All England Club and basically shamed the old boys into awarding the female tennis players the same payouts as their male counterpoints. 

The sports network (ESPN) approached DuVernay, to make a film about any topic in women’s sports. She choose Williams’ fight for equal pay at Wimbledon — a big story in Britain, but not widely known in the United States.

“It was like a dream come true,” she told us. “Most filmmakers don’t get that question very often — especially independent filmmakers like myself.” Like Williams, DuVernay is from Compton and “always had an affection and affinity for her.” She was drawn to the idea of a champion — off the court and on, the growth of the girl to a women, an outsider to the ultimate insider of a sport — and the quest of an African-American woman for equal pay. “Those are all the things as a storyteller that galvanized my attention.”

On the eve of her 2005 victory, Williams made a personal appeal to the governing body. It didn’t work. The following year, she published a much buzzed-about op-ed in London’s Times and the question was raised in Parliament. This time the club finally caved: When she won her fourth Wimbledon championship in 2007, Williams became the first woman to earn exactly the same as Roger Federer: $1.4 million.

“I think you have to speak truth to power,” said the filmmaker. “If truth is not being spoken, then power doesn’t shift.”