The Star Wars universe has made history by employing its first-ever black female director.
Filmmaker Victoria Mahoney has been chosen to serve as the second unit director for the upcoming Star Wars: Episode IX film.
She will as part of her job oversee the supplementary footage for the project, including filming stunts, inserts, cutaways and establishing shots, according to news site eonline.com.
Fellow director Ava DuVernay, best known for her work on Selma and A Wrinkle in Time shared the news on Twitter.
Happy to share this historic news. A black woman directing stories in a galaxy far, far away. First unit director #JJAbrams. Second unit director @VictoriaMahoney. #StarWarsE9 #StarWars pic.twitter.com/s689jv9I4u
— Ava DuVernay (@ava) April 17, 2018
Mahoney has over the years directed episodes for television shows such as Grey’s Anatomy, Queen Sugar, and American Crime.
She recently directed a pilot for CBS called Red Line which was produced by DuVernay and Greg Berlanti.
Mahoney has also covered a niche for herself in film, after writing, producing, and directing her debut feature Yelling to the Sky.
She has now made history as being the first black woman to serve in any directing capacity on a “Star Wars” film.
Star Wars Episode IX is slated to be released in December 2019.
