Editing Julie Dash (section)

=== ''Illusions'' (1982) ===
{{Main|Illusions (1982 film)}}
She wrote and directed the short film ''[[Illusions by Julie Dash|Illusions]]'' (34 minutes), which explores racial and sexual discrimination in Hollywood and American society.<ref>[http://www.cinema.ucla.edu/blogs/la-rebellion/2011/11/14/codes-and-closets-julie-dashs-illusions "Codes and Closets: Julie Dash's Illusions"], UCLA Film and Television Archive, 14 November 2011.</ref> Released in 1982, it was her first to earn more widespread success and attention.<ref name="voices.cla.umn.edu" /> Set in 1942 in the fictional National Studios, it follows a black woman executive, Mignon Duprée, who has "[[passing (racial identity)|passed]]" for white to achieve her position. Also featured is Ester Jeeter, a black woman who dubs the singing voice in musicals for a white Hollywood star. They work in an industry based on creating images and alternative realities. The film explores Mignon's dilemma, Ester's struggle to get roles as an actress and singer rather than dub for others, and the uses of cinema in wartime: three illusions in conflict with reality.<ref>[http://www.wmm.com/filmcatalog/pages/c300.shtml "Julie Dash: 'Illusions'"], Women Make Movies</ref>

''Illusions'' received the 1985 [[Black American Cinema Society]] Award and the [[Black Filmmaker Foundation's Jury]] Prize in 1989 as best film of the decade. Kevin Thomas of the ''Los Angeles Times'' described it as "a gripping critique of the power of the movies to shape perception", while exploring the illusions created by Hollywood, as well as the illusion of racial identity. The success of this film and other shorts enabled Dash to move to feature films. In 2020, the film was selected for preservation in the United States [[National Film Registry]] by the [[Library of Congress]] as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".<ref name="Thomas">Thomas, Kevin. (January 22, 1985) [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-01-22-ca-11130-story.html "Dash Tops List : Black Film Society To Give Awards,"] ''Los Angeles Times''. Retrieved on October 13, 2017.</ref><ref name="LAR-Illusions">{{cite web |url=http://www.cinema.ucla.edu/events/2011-11-12/illusions-1982-fragrance-1991-above-so-below-1973-rain-1978|title=Illusions |first=Allyson Nadia|last=Field|publisher=UCLA Film and Television Archives |location=Los Angeles, California|access-date=2011-11-05|quote=Set in Hollywood during WWII, Illusions tells the story of Mignon Duprée, a studio executive passing for white, and Ester Jeeter, an African American singer hired to dub the voice of a white movie star}}</ref>