1991 / history, romance, drama / 1h 58min / directed by Julie Dash / country: UK | USA / language: English | French
At the dawn of the 20th century, a multi-generational family in the Gullah community on the Sea Islands off of South Carolina – former West African slaves who adopted many of their ancestors’ Yoruba traditions – struggle to maintain their cultural heritage and folklore while contemplating a migration to the mainland, even further from their roots.
“In 1991, Julie Dash’s sumptuous film Daughters of the Dust broke ground as the first movie directed by a black woman to get a wide theatrical release. Since then, the gorgeous tone poem about a Gullah family in 1902 has continued to gather accolades. It was added to the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in 2004, and recently served as a heavy inspiration for Beyoncé’s visual album Lemonade.”
–Yohana Desta, Vanity Fair
“To look at the trivial films that won Oscars for 1991 and compare them with “Daughters of the Dust,” a movie made outside Hollywood on a scant budget, is to laugh at the shortsightedness and money-centered vanity of the movie industry and the critics who are in thrall to it.”
–Richard Brody, The New Yorker
LUMIERE CINEMA 