Daughters of the Dust

The year 1902, the islands off South Carolina. The Peazant family belong to the Gullah community; after slavery they stayed on the islands and live with their own language and their own beliefs. The family decides to move to the mainland. Before going they gather for one last day. Old Nana wants to stay and says those who leave will lose their roots. One is looking for work up north, one has found another religion, one does not want to go. The narrative takes place within a day and follows no straight plot; voices, memories and the telling of an unborn child run through one another. Julie Dash writes and directs. Arthur Jafa is the cinematographer. Cora Lee Day, Alva Rogers and Barbara O. Jones are in the cast. The film won the cinematography award at Sundance. It is cited as the first feature by a Black American woman director to receive general theatrical distribution across the country. It was taken into the National Film Registry. The Gullah language is used with subtitles and the narrative does not simplify the dialogue. Its visual language was openly referenced in popular culture years later. Its limit is form; the narrative is deliberately scattered and hard for a viewer who wants a plot to follow. Who it is for: viewers who like experimental narrative and want to see the landmarks of Black American cinema. Who it is not for: it is slow, closed, and does not resolve on a single viewing.