Editing Julie Dash (section)

===''Daughters of the Dust'' (1991)===
{{main|Daughters of the Dust}}
Dash began work on a story in 1975 that was inspired by her father's [[Gullah]] family background and immigration from the [[Sea Islands]] of Georgia.<ref>Turan, Kenneth. (March 6, 1992) [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-03-06-ca-3271-story.html "'Daughters' Recaptures Power of Gullah Past,"] ''The Los Angeles Times''. Retrieved on October 13, 2017.</ref> This would become the [[screenplay]] ''[[Daughters of the Dust]]'', which went into production after she received $800,000 in financing from PBS in 1988. The film, set in 1902, revolves around three generations of Gullah women in the Peazant family on [[Saint Helena Island (South Carolina)|St. Helena Island]] off the coasts of Georgia and [[South Carolina]]. Innovative with its use of Gullah dialogue and interwoven story-lines among the predominately female cast, the film focuses on ancestral and matriarchal story lines as well as the history of former slaves who settled on the island and formed an independent community there. The screenplay was written in the dialect of the island settlers with minimal subtitles, resulting in an immersive language experience.<ref>Dash, Julie; Cade Bambara, Toni; hooks, bell. (1992). "''Daughters of the Dust'': The Making of an African American Woman's Film," - introduction to the film, interview, and screenplay. The New Press.</ref><ref>Dash, Julie; Cade Bambara, Toni; hooks, bell. (1992). "''Daughters of the Dust'': The Making of an African American Woman's Film." The New Press.</ref><ref name="KempleyPost">Kempley, Rita. (February 28, 1992) [https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/daughtersofthedustnrkempley_a0a2a1.htm "Daughters of the Dust,"] ''The Washington Post''.
 Retrieved on October 13, 2017.</ref>

Dash's experimental approach to narrative structure was something rarely seen in U.S. feature-filmmaking. Upon the film's re-release, she said: "I...wanted to do a film that was so deeply embedded in the culture, was so authentic to the culture that it felt like a foreign film."<ref name="APnews">Coyle, Jake. (November 18, 2016) [https://apnews.com/14cbf0077264447fafa33f2945a3609a/julie-dashs-landmark-daughters-dust-reborn "Julie Dash's landmark 'Daughters of the Dust' is reborn,"] ''AP News''. Retrieved on October 5, 2017.</ref> The film is told in way that an [[Griot|African griot]] would tell a story. A griot would recall a family's history over the course of days, all from their head. Dash brought in a Gullah consultant to help with the film.<ref name="restoration">{{Cite web |title=Julie Dash - On Daughters of the Dust 25th Anniversary Restoration |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDbiZwu4BBs |website=YouTube | date=November 8, 2016 |access-date=2024-03-18 |language=en}}</ref> 

''Daughters of the Dust'' premiered at the [[Sundance Film Festival]] in 1991, where it was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize and won a cinematography award.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.indyweek.com/indyweek/julie-dash-and-the-ongoing-struggle-of-black-women-filmmakers/Content?oid=2650131|title=Julie Dash and the ongoing struggle of black women filmmakers|website=Indy Week|date=7 September 2011|access-date=2016-04-08|archive-date=March 27, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180327060253/https://www.indyweek.com/indyweek/julie-dash-and-the-ongoing-struggle-of-black-women-filmmakers/Content?oid=2650131|url-status=dead}}</ref> It became the first feature film by an African-American woman to be distributed in the United States in theatrical release<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://hub.jhu.edu/2016/04/27/julie-dash-a-retrospective/|title=Trailblazing filmmaker Julie Dash to visit Johns Hopkins |website=Johns Hopkins University|date=27 April 2016}}</ref> and gained critical praise for its use of dialect and music composed by John Barnes, as well for its cinematography and visual imagery.

''The New York Times'' called Dash a "strikingly original film maker", noting that "for all its harsh allusions to slavery and hardship, the film is an extended, wildly lyrical meditation on the power of African cultural iconography and the spiritual resilience of the generations of women who have been its custodians."<ref name=NYTHolden>Holden, Stephen (January 16, 1992) [https://www.nytimes.com/1992/01/16/movies/review-film-daughters-of-the-dust-the-demise-of-a-tradition.html "Review/Film; 'Daughters Of the Dust': The Demise Of a Tradition"] ''The New York Times''. Retrieved October 5, 2017.</ref>

The overriding intention for making this film was to make film about an African-American family who were not born into slavery. Dash also wanted to take a look at [[mwod:retention|retention]] patterns, such as language, food, motor habits and [[aesthetics]]. Dash wanted to see all of this on film, as it had been previously denied due to the people making the film being mostly Europeans. This meant that the culture was not truly explored and the experiences of these families were being told from a European perspective.<ref name="restoration" />

Despite the critical acclaim, Dash was not able to get the financing to release another feature film, going on to work in television. ''Daughters of the Dust'' would continue to gain accolades for more than two decades. It was selected in 2004 for preservation in the United States [[National Film Registry]] by the [[Library of Congress]] as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".<ref name="ReferenceA" /> Its visuals would influence [[Beyoncé|Beyoncé's]] 2016 video album ''[[Lemonade (Beyoncé album)|Lemonade]]'', featuring young women on the beach, dressed in white gowns as in the movie, and gathering in front of an island cabin.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/film/film-reviews/julie-dashs-neglected-masterpiece-daughers-of-the-dust-sees-overdue-resurgence/article33020694/|title=Julie Dash's masterpiece Daughters of the Dust sees overdue resurgence|access-date=2018-07-09}}</ref> On its 25th anniversary, the Cohen Media Group restored and distributed ''Daughters of the Dust'' for theatrical release, beginning at the 2016 [[Toronto International Film Festival|Toronto Film Festival]].<ref name=VanityFair>Desta, Yohanna. (August 22, 2016)
 [http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/08/daughters-of-the-dust-exclusive "How Beyoncé's Lemonade Helped Bring a Groundbreaking Film Back to Theaters"] ''Vanity Fair''. Retrieved on February 26, 2017.</ref> Other screenings in celebration of the ''Daughters of the Dust'' 25th anniversary included [[Honolulu Museum of Art]], [[American Film Institute|AFI]] Silver Theater, and [[ARRAY]] @ [[The Broad]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.arraynow.com/array-at-the-broad|title=ARRAY @ THE BROAD PRESENTS: 'DAUGHTERS OF THE DUST'|website=Array Now|language=en-US|access-date=2019-03-10}}</ref> held in Los Angeles at [[Theatre at Ace Hotel|Theater at Ace Hotel]]. In 2025, the [[Museum of Fine Arts, Houston|Museum of Fine Arts Houston]] sponsored a screening of a 35mm print of ''Daughters of the Dust.''<ref>{{Cite web |title=See movies in 35mm at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston - CultureMap Houston |url=https://houston.culturemap.com/news/entertainment/35mm-film-projection-mfah/ |access-date=2025-03-21 |website=houston.culturemap.com |language=en}}</ref>