Ava DuVernay touched down at the Venice Film Festival on Wednesday evening with her new film Origin, which world premiered in Competition and received a more than eight-minute ovation in its debut screening.

DuVernay was visibly overjoyed by the audience’s warm response to the film. The director was making history as the first female African American director to compete for the festival’s prestigious Golden Lion award across its 80 editions, stretching back to 1932.