User reviews

Daughters of The Dust was produced by Geechee Girls and American Playhouse Company. The movie main focus is on the Peazant women. Nana Peazant is played by Cora Lee Day, and Eula, her granddaughter, is played by Alva Rogers who is pregnant and has been raped by a landowner. Nana's granddaughter, Yellow Mary, is played by Barbara-O who is returning, with her friend Trula, from the mainland and her life as a prostitute and wet nurse. Haggar, who has married into the family, is played by Kaycee Moore and wants nothing to do with the old traditions. Similarly, the Christian Viola, played by Cheryl Lynn Bruce, is returning from her life on the mainland.

Daughters of the Dust is a film written and directed by Julie Dash. It tells the story of a family of African-Americans who have lived for many years on a Southern offshore island, and of how they come together one day in 1902 to celebrate their ancestors before some of them leave for the North. The film is narrated by an unborn child, and ancestors already dead also seem to be as present as the living.

Julie Dash underwent many hardships in bringing the story to the silver screen. She had severe budget constraints, filmed in mosquito and insect infested areas, was delayed by Hurricane Hugo, sidetracked by sudden and violent sandstorms, and was forced to decide to either have a child or make the movie. In the end, she choose to give birth and nurture the story Daugthers of the Dust and the result is an unconventional masterpiece.

Initially, the response by white male critics was not favorable and they accused Dash of not adequately explaining the Gullah people, their culture, and their religious traditions. While attacking Dash, these critics failed to acknowledge many positive aspects of the film. The reasons behind this, according to Bell Hooks, is that "we've never been taught, most of us, in any history class that black people had different languages, had different religious practices, etc. So, to some extent, the film represents that challenge to a critic of any race" to review something they are not familiar with.

Because of these reviews and the fact that movie tells the story of African American women in an unconventional manner, it would seem to have slim commercial prospects. However, through word of mouth and some positive reviews it was able to generate a cult following. To date, the film has grossed 1.6 million from a budget of only 800,000.

The Newark Black Film Festival has chosen Daughters as the Film of The Century while the British Film Institute's Sight and Sound Magazine chose the soundtrack as one of the best in the past 25 years. It also received the Best Cinematography award at the Sundance Film Festival in 1991.

I believe the film hits the viewer on various levels. By placing the story in the early 1900's, Dash is able to show us a turbulent time for African-Americans and address many issues such as migration, lynching, and the changing African-American culture. Dash also shows and teaches us about Ibo culture and it's importance in the lives of those inhabiting the Sea Coast Islands, not just the African-Americans sharing the Gullah culture, but also the Native Americans, Muslims, and Christians.

Daughters in the Dust is one of those rare movies that truly makes you wonder long and hard about the possibilities of the film form. The film as pure narrative leaves much to be desired; yet it's is not concerned about telling the intricate and sentimental goings-on of one or two human beings; a single tale told in one moment in time. No, the film's scope is much wider and anthropological in scale, thus requires more than just a passing judgment on its entertainment value.

The film concerns itself with the Peazant family; proud members of Gullah creoles who originated from slaves traded along the remote islets of South Carolina and Georgia. Even before the Civil War generations of the Gullah people lived quietly as rice farmers on these islands and thanks in large part to regional isolation they were able to rebuild and retain much of the linguistic, cultural and religious heritage that had been wiped out by the slave trade. By 1901, the Peazants are mulling over the idea of relocating to the mainland.

The film has the narrative distinction of being told from the perspective of an unnamed and unborn member of the Peazants played by Kay-Lynn Warren. At only four, the young Warren peeks through the hole of her family's history only appearing twice herself as a sprite. We meet her pregnant mother Eula (Rogers), her aunts Haagar (Moore), Viola (Bruce) and Yellow Mary (Barbara-O) as well as Nana (Day) the matriarch of the family. Nana is old enough to remember the scourge of slavery and as a result is resonant to move to the mainland. Meanwhile Haagar is the strongest advocate for the move saying "If Nana wants to live and die on this island, then God bless her old soul." Two members of the clan have already moved away; Viola who moved to Philadelphia to become a ardent Christian; and Yellow Mary, who according to Viola is a "wasted woman".

Despite showcasing a family hungry for change and progress, the film gives proper reverence to the traditions of the Gullah people. The most respected people on the island are the elders who consist of Nana and Bilal Muhammad (Abdurrahman) the resident mullah. The spiritual ceremonies of the family relies on a mixture of Christianity, Islam and African animism that gives everything natural around them a lyrical quality. Yet underneath the pleasant depictions of sun-soaked beaches and marshy lowlands the internal conflict behind the eyes of the Peazants can't help but surface during communal gatherings. "We are two people in one body," says Nana as she defies the rest of the family who hope to travel north with their hopes and dreams.

If there is one glaring problem with Daughters of the Dust it's its expectations of the viewer. During production director Julie Dash wanted to keep the authenticity of the people intact and thus had actors speak only in the Gullah dialect and didn't consider subtitles. A minority of audience members may find this tact a mesmerizing exercise in linguistics. A feeling not unlike hearing the warm familiar sounds of your parents speaking while you were a toddler. From a purely anthropological perspective this was the best narrative choice one could hope for, allowing those with patience further rewards with repeated viewings. Unfortunately if you're not one of patience or a strong interest in anthropology or etymology you might find yourself distracted and looking for other stimuli.

There are many ways to read a movie of this nature. Most movies start and end with a graspable narrative, quick and easy explanations to plot details and an clear resolution. Daughters of the Dust doesn't let you off the hook with easy solutions. It instead asks serious questions. Questions that highlight the consequences of modernity's encroachment on tradition, cultural identity, cross-generational turmoil and diaspora. Furthermore the movie gives willing audiences a sense of belonging among the Gullah people; a warmth you seldom feel on the screen. It also does so in a very spirited and exquisite way featuring some of the most lyrical visual storytelling $800,000 can buy.

I really wanted to like this, but other than visually, there wasn't much to appreciate. A stronger storyline would have been nice.

It does however inspire me to visit the area and look into the history, but I wish the movie itself had told me more.

Kudos for the effort.

A Feast For the Eyes, Ears, And Heart, March 26, 2001 Reviewer: Angela Jefferson (see more about me) from Memphis, Tn USA In the opening of her film, Daughters of the Dust, Julie Dash alerts the viewer that this is no ordinary African American story. Conversely, this is an American history lesson with African origins. A small informative note at the start of the film puts the entire movie in context. Without this explanatory foreword, many viewers would probably find the film hard to understand. Though the movie tells the story of the Peazant family's migration from the sea islands of the South, the story also gives a panoramic view of the Gullah culture at-large. Because the islands are isolated from the mainland states, the Gullah retain a distinct African ethnicity and culture. Ironically, the Peazants want to rid themselves of the old ways and heritage, thus beginning an exodus from the islands to the mainland. Taking place in 1902, just fifty years after the end of slavery, Daughter of the Dust explores the Peazant's struggle for survival and escape from poverty. The movie opens on the eve of the family's great migration to the mainland. A family celebration and farewell-of-sorts take place on the beach. The Peazants even hire a photographer to document this momentous occasion. As the movie progresses, the complexity of the family's departure from the island emerges. Difference and changing values mire the pending migration with conflict and strife. As the family prepares to leave, in search of a new life and better future, the film reveals the richness of the Gullah heritage. Narrations of "the unborn child" of Eli and Eula Peazant offer glimpses into problems the family has faced since their existence on the island. As explained by matriarch Nana Peazant, the Gullah are like "two people in one body." Though most Peazants were born in the Americas, their African heritage is forever evident. The internal conflicts of this duality haunt the family as they become ensnarled in battle, only to war against themselves. Through old African customs and rituals, such as glass bottle trees, salt water baths, and herb potions, Nana wants to ensure that the family stays together. Moreover, Nana, "the last of the old," has chosen to stay on the island. She celebrates everything that makes her who she is: the ugly and the good. She knows slavery and she knows freedom. Her life revolves around the continuation and strengthening of the Peazant family. Her rituals are often unappreciated and looked upon with scorn by other family members. Some family members are unwilling to grasp Nana's teachings and wisdom. They want to escape the island, to run away from the Gullah way of life. However, they cannot run from themselves. Just as Nana proclaims, they will always live a double life, no matter where they go. The trip to the mainland certainly cannot rid their indigo stained hands of its blue-blackish tint. Nor can the northern journey erase the memories of whom or what they are leaving. Unbeknownst to the younger Peazants, the duality, the recollections and remembrances, and the old way and traditions are gifts from their ancestors. Sadly, few are able to accept these gifts or comprehend their importance. Through authentic Gullah dialect, vivid imagery and colorful characters, Dash reveals the uniqueness of the Gullah people. A cousin, Yellow Mary, returns from Cuba to the island, facing the scorn of her people because she is a "ruint 'oman." Haggar, a bitter woman who wants nothing to do with the old Gullah ways, does not realize that she cannot rid herself of whom she is. For example, she despises the "old Africans," yet retains their ways in her speech and use of African colloquialisms. Another cousin, Viola is full of Christian religious fervor and against the heathen practices and nature-worshiping traditions of her people. Eula, who gives a heart- wrenching soliloquy at the end of the movie, bears the burden of pregnancy and rape by a white man. Eli, Eula's husband, represents the strength and future of the Peazant clan. Besides being adept at character development, Julie Dash effectively educates the viewer about African-American history. Tales of flying Africans, water-walking Ibo, Islamic religion, and slave trading are skillfully woven in small snatches throughout the film. We also see connections between African-Americans and Native Americans. The lessons learned from this film are too numerous. One must see the film more than once to appreciate all the information presented. Daughters of the Dust awakens all the senses. The beautiful cinematography transports viewers to a surreal place and time, creating a visual paradise. Each scene makes its introduction with mesmerizing African music, which aptly fits each setting. As the Gullah women prepare food for the feast, one cannot help but imagine the taste and smell of gumbo, shrimp, and crab. This movie also arouses the heart. One can easily identify and empathize with the characters' passion and sincerity. Often, the characters relay sentiments and convictions so convincingly, that it is hard to believe that the players were acting. Understanding complete passages is often difficult because of the beautiful and authentic tonality of the language. Nonetheless, the use of standard English could not have conveyed Dash's message as successfully. We should appreciate this film for its originality and courage. Stories such as these are hardly ever told. Most films neglect the eclectic nature of the African American community, usually focusing on only aspects that are familiar to the masses. Here, Julie Dash reaches beyond the boundaries that are set for African-American films. Equally as important is her ability and willingness to validate the African-American experience. She eloquently and subtly deals with difficult subjects such as slavery, self-hatred, feminism, color prejudices, and rape. Dash does not throw one viewpoint in your face. Conversely, Dash gives the viewer a front row seat into the lives of a remarkable people. We are then left to draw conclusions for ourselves. One feels liberated, proud, and honored to be allowed a window into their lives. The movie is a celebration of the African-American diaspora. The images, language, and music of Daughters of the Dust will linger in the minds of its fortunate viewers forever.

"This must be the most desolate place on earth." is uttered in this ethnographic trailblazer from Julie Dash, and the said place is Igbo Landing, on St. Simons Island off the Georgia coast, where lives Gullah islanders, an African-American people distinctively preserves its African traditions and origins.

The story of DAUGHTERS OF THE DUST takes place in the turn of the 20th century, and pivots around the Peazant Clan when the family is facing an impending separation as most of them decide to pursue a new, modern life northward in the mainland, whereas the elderly matriarch Nana (Cora Lee Day), refuses to leave the island where she is born and raised. Weaving its non-linear narrative with a voice-over of the unborn child (Warren), whose dubious parentage is a scathing testimony of Gullah people's sufferance to the injustice and oppression (although they are not explictly presented here), strewing flashback, spectacular shots of its unique topography, myths (water-walking), rituals (baptism) and supernaturalism (a young girl's ghost or a surreal shot in the graveyard) intermittently along the way, yet, on a less favorable note, its banally synthesized accidental music (save for some tribal rhythm) fails to leaven the narrative as the icing on the cake, often irritatingly takes us away from its spatio-temporal environs.

It is a shade daunting for a first-time viewer to suss the whole picture of who is who and their familial relations immediately, but it is rewardingly the women's voices are predominantly heard through a handful of strong characters. Cora Lee Day's Nana, an obstinate heathen refuses to evangelism but cleaves to memories and mementos of the past in her own superstitious mindset, is a stunning exemplar of what energy and impact those underemployed dark-skinned thespians can generate if they are granted a platform, she is electrifying as the old guard battling mortality and being forgotten, subsists a wisp of spiritual tenacity that becomes her lifeline. Barbarao plays Yellow Mary, one of Nana's many granddaughters, the black sheep practicing the oldest profession, returns for the last supper with her same-sex lover Trula (Hoosier), is at loggerheads with Haagar (Moore), Nana's intractable granddaughter-in-law, who aims to sever her family entirely from the backwater, represents the aggressive side of the polarity. Finally, Alva Rogers as Eula, mother of the unborn child and wife of Nana's great grandson Eli (Anderson), staggeringly performs a quasi-possessed plea of understanding and unification in the climax, conjuring up a most theatrical moment in this otherwise self-reflective, desultory essay honoring Gullah culture and underlining the inexorable generational shift and a muted understanding thereof.

An oddity disinterred from oblivion, and forever enshrined as the first feature film directed by an African-American woman distributed theatrically in the United States, Dash's ethereal debut enters that year's Sundance and is recognized for its otherworldly cinematography, but its groundbreaking genesis doesn't parlay into a successive big screen career for Dash, who is relegated to small screen works mostly and his second theatrical film FUNNY VALENTINES arrives in 1999, and that's it, does she deserve another chance? For shizzle!

Another film I was fortunate to watch thanks to my son taking some college courses on cinema. On first viewing, I wondered if this were based on a book. The film is rich in detail that remind me of a director having a hard time winnowing down a detailed novel to fit in a two-hour show.

Reading some reviews afterwards, that abundance of detail I think pulled the narrative threads apart for some viewers. Or for others, like myself, it gave the film a stylized poetic feel.

There is of course a simple narrative, the beach-side picnic is a going away party for most of the family leaving to head north. So there are plenty of juxtapositions of old and new. A variety of faiths commingle, not always freely and easily. There are tales of dying (the Ibo Landing) and dyeing - hand-making indigo. Nana, the grand matriarch stands out for many reasons, including how her deep blue dress contrasts with the others in their starched and frilly lighter wear. Costumes (and hair) are pretty and remarkable. Catalog wish-fests, bottle trees, okra horns, kaleidoscopes - visual design throughout is commanding.

There is another dream-like vibe running (literally) through the film as an unborn daughter narrates and sprints along the shoreline through forests and even perplexes a friendly photographer brought along to document this day for the family. That was like a brief flash of magic vs science. The daughter (blue ribbon in her hair by the way) herself drives one subplot of love vs sexual violence.

While the movie felt like a book in its breadth, some of the dialog felt more akin to the theater. That too may have pushed some away, and to be clear I am not talking about the Gullah dialect, that was more a fascinating flavor to the film. Felt like one's ear picks up enough, instead it's the delivery was often strident and rigid. Blame it on the faiths colliding perhaps?

Anyways this is a momentous day, despite the lessons and cooking in the dunes, the dancing by the sea, ladies talking in trees and the fascinating sort of martial arts between two of the male characters. This day is an end of an era, a complicated era of triumph and pain, but I think the message is that an essence persists wherever one travels. And the essence of many flows in the wake of one.

An ambitious film for sure. In a way, it reminded me of the more recent "This is not a Burial, This is a Resurrection." I'll admit I did not know about the Ibo (or in searching I see "Igbo") Landing. For a while watching the movie, I almost wondered if the people there were outside of time. The ghosts from the Landing, existing beyond the slave ship in and the family boat ride out. Could just be a cinematic splinter for me, and remembering "Picnic at Hanging Rock. Unless I'm accidentally tapping into Jordan Peele's next surreal horror social commentary blockbuster?

As one of the extras who had the opportunity to be apart of this production, i found it to be very educational and it was truly a learning experience for me. This was the first movie I ever appeared in so I was truly on cloud nine as I was doing everything the directors were asking me to do. During the filming of this movie I was already apart of a group called The Hallelujah Singers whose purpose was (and still is) to seek to preserve through music the Gullah heritage, rooted in West African traditions and language, brought by the slaves to the Sea Islands of South Carolina and Georgia. this movie gave me more insight into what it was the group was doing. Again, just being apart of this movie was great and very educational for me.

Period piece showing an extended family meeting on the beach, off the coast of the carolinas. Cora Day is Nana, telling the story of the various generations, some of whom are moving away. The opening cards describe the "gullahs".. .the group of people descended from slaves who typically live isolated lives near the mid-atlantic coast; according to wikipedia, they are also known as Geechees, probably so called from the name of the Ogeechee River. co-stars Barbara-O and Trula Hoosier. The women do all the talking and laughing. The men just sit and watch. Takes a while to get going..in fact, i'm not sure a plot line ever really gets going. we see various people "preparing".. but everyone is doing their own thing, and we're not at all sure how everyone is connected. lots of flashbacks, and people seeing visions of their ancestors ? a bit confusing for me. screaming now and then for no reason. laughing. reading to a group on the beach. Seems to take place in one day. i think most of us are so far removed from this that having a few more things spelled out would have been helpful. Written and Directed by Julie Dash, who also did Travel Notes of a Geechee Girl and Rosa Parks.

This is one of the finest black films of the last twenty years. Julie Dash has created an evocative portrait of African American life that still holds an African past in the cradle of everyday life. The film is also a brilliant depiction of gender relations in black communities. Daughters of the Dust presents a vital, spiritual, and haunting portrait of black women, their agency and their connection to a nurturing ancestral past. Very few films about black people seriously explore the deep spiritual connections between Old and New World, and fewer still look so carefully at a particular community. The Gullah people of the Sea Islands are a group that remains largely unknown in both mainstream and black culture. As group that has clearly adapted to life in a new place, they still demonstrate powerful connections to an African past. In their adaptation and connection, they show the strength and resilience of black communities and cultures.

I don't understand what's the thing with the horse-riding man and Iona, and what's the significance of the girl with the blue bow and why is she an illusion in the photographer's head?

This completely brilliant film was the first Julie Dash film I have seen, and if the rest of her work is as brilliant, she is going on my list of all-time favorite directors. While listening to the Gullah language is a bit tricky at first, this is one of those rare films which rewards re-watching with further insights, and new perspectives. It is rare for me to still enjoy a film I've studied in detail after having to pull it to pieces, but Daughters of The Dust is not only still enjoyable, it is breathtaking in the sheer detail present in every shot, the layered symbolism which seems to only uncover more layers as you peel each back. I thought I had become sick of all American film, that all that was left was either formulaic, or pretentious art-house, but this film proves that all wrong. Watch it. More than once! The opening image, of dust blowing out of work-worn hands is an essay in visual poetry in itself!

Languid look at the Gullah culture of the sea islands off the coast of South Carolina and Georgia where African folk-ways were maintained well into the 20th Century and was one of the last bastions of these mores in America. Set in 1902.

Allegedly, this is the first feature film directed by an African-American woman distributed theatrically in the United States. That, in and of itself, makes it culturally important. But more so, I have to say I was not really aware of the Gullah people or that there are islands off the coast of South Carolina. I guess maybe I should know that from pirate lore or something, but it's so foreign to a Midwesterner.

Anyway, this is an interesting look at that culture. And even though it may be fictional, I believe it captures the right feeling, or at least close enough to get those who are interested to look into it more.

I'll start by saying that I usually like non-linear movies, and that I'm interested in African-American history and the Gullah people. That said, this movie was one of the all-time worst I have ever seen. There's no plot, no character development, and no way to determine what the relationships between most of the characters are. It's as if you were dropped from the sky into the midst of this somewhat unsympathetic bunch of women (the men are ciphers, no personalities at all, merely an afterthought), and during the time you are there they don't speak to you and reveal nothing about themselves. The Gullah dialect is almost impossible to understand, and there are no subtitles. Yeah, the cinematography is nice, but save yourself a couple bucks and watch a PBS show. It's obvious that the ONLY reason many people are so entranced by this film is that it was the first independent film by an African-American woman.

It's tough to sort my feelings on Daughters of the Dust. The film is built around a compelling and often forgotten segment of black history that maintains social resonance beyond its time and place; director Julie Dash deserves credit for capturing the emotion and pain of cultural transformation, and there are lovely images throughout. But Daughters of the Dust makes very little effort to engage the audience: it's difficult to maintain a sense of each character's individual goals, and the film often sacrifices narrative momentum for visual poetry. Unfortunately, I'm left with a film that interests me more in theory than in practice. -TK 9/30/10

This 1991 independent film was the first feature film that a Black woman (Julie Dash) directed that had theatrical distribution in the US. As other reviews have highlighted, "Daughters of the Dust" is a difficult film to watch and at times to understand. I'm happy to call out independent or art films that are obvious or heavy handed in their formal experimentation But this film is challenging for good reasons and it yields layers worth reflecting on.

The film focuses on a Black family in Georgia in 1902 and reckons with the legacy of slavery in the US. Instead of focusing the tragedy of this aspect of American history, as many other films do, it celebrates the unique culture and language of this family.

The principal photography and cinematography were done by the talented Arthur Jafa. This is one of the most memorable and successful aspects of the film.

I don't think this film will be for everyone. But if you're interested in the history of film (especially Black US film) this is a must see. Making a film like this in the 2020s might not work as well but it came at the end of cinema's most meaningful experimental period.

It feels a little difficult to wrap my head around Daughters of the Dust, but there's definitely something here. It takes place during the early years of the 20th century and unfolds at a strange yet interesting pace, entirely doing its own thing rhythmically in a way I kind of respect (and feel a little confounded by). Parts of it made me think of a couple of Terrence Malick movies, but there are also many things about it that are unlike his films, and the films of any other director who could be considered a filmmaker of arthouse cinema. I wasn't enthralled, but I liked the atmosphere it constructed, and the way it unfolded in a very distinct fashion. Seeing something different every now and then is cool, even if it's hard to know what to make of it entirely.

Turning the Page for African-American Films

The mid nineteen eighties and early nineties were chock-full of films displaying discriminating evidence against the African-American community. Films such as Boyz in the Hood, Menace to Society, and Friday demonstrated a stereotypical theme of gangbanging hoodlums that settled into the minds of the nation. If films representing the African-American man weren't incriminating enough, the alternative option was misrepresentation through the music industry. Milli Vanilli, once proven unauthentic, made an embarrassing impression that is still humored on late night television. MC Hammer, LL Cool J and other music artists help to upturn the music industry with their ability to direct trends for urban culture. Artists fresh new styles were a simple antidote for one industry. However, the film industry was still rendered and in search of its hero. The hero finally came in Julie Dash's Daughter's of the Dust in 1991. A deeper search than black baggy pants had to come along for an impact to be felt. The deeper search led Julie Dash into African-American history and a peasant family from a subculture known as Gullah. Dash's poetic portrayal relieved the nation's minds of problems in the black community by celebrating its past. While the film was still very dramatic, it was able to capture the audience with its breathtaking scenes. Most famous of which was the picnic scene that the family found itself in a debate of traditional and modern ways.

This film had its twist and turns but made a lasting impression with its individuality from other films. The characters all had climatic problems, but were portrayed as free and independent from the hardships that are faced by poor urban society today. This made for a break in the downward trend of a current representation of the black community. Jokingly, this film should be more highly regarded than even MC Hammer's legendary baggy pants.

There are some films I watch that absorb me so completely that it takes a while to re-adjust to my surroundings when they finish. This was one such film. It felt all encompassing. I longed to be, and almost felt I was, among these close-knit people, experiencing with them the rhythm of their sun-kissed daily interactions, living a life both cradled by the forest and looking out to the open sea, the golden thread of ancestral resilience woven through their mores. The film's beautiful and lyrical art direction achieves much of this effect.

Five generations together of the Peazant family; the elders guard the memory of being brought over on ships to the shores of these islands and try to impart the wisdom of their survival to their descendants, some of whom are preparing to start a new life on the mainland. To remember who they are and what resources they have to draw on in the face of the trials they will inevitably face. The younger generations struggle with these ancestral scars, and new wounds of their own, and wonder about how they will forge their own lives, whether they stay on the island or 'go north'.

I am a member of the African diaspora myself, my recent ancestors were born in the Caribbean and came to the UK to make a new life. I felt a moving resonance in Julie Dash's portrayal - the accents in particular I found quite familiar! - but also a dull ache of something lost or distant. Perhaps this is a thread that links me back to this turn of the century family on the other side of the ocean.

This is a deeply affecting, beautifully shot and uniquely lyrical film that was frequently breathtaking. I am deeply impressed by this film as a piece of art and creativity from the minds of the director and her team, and as a window both back in time and into the lives of a community I might not otherwise have known much about. That this film was the first film by an African American woman to ever be released in the United States makes it even more remarkable. I highly recommend this film experience.

This would be the second non-abstract movie I've seen without a plot. The other one was Morvern Callar, and I must say this one beats that one out by a long shot because this one actually had symbolism and intended meaning. The loose plot-like structure is about a bunch of African-Americans in 1902 who had lived in isolation on an island for years and were getting ready to go back to Africa, only now they had to deal with issues of the African diaspora and displacement and what it means to their identity.

Very rich visuals are about one of the only things that can really keep your attention going in this film, but if you sit down and force yourself to pay attention you can get a lot out of the dialog as well. It just requires an extra amount of effort to pay off, but once you expend that effort you might just get something out of it.

A little more difficult is the fact that at least four different distinct languages are spoken in this film, with only one moment done with subtitles. The languages I caught besides English were German, French, and Arabic (?) but there may very well have been much more (I think there was a little Spanish and some Latin as well).

I can't really speak much about the technical qualities of the film other than the fact that the symbolism and imagery are amazing and the script is tedious. It's really hard to focus on more than that, unfortunately.

--PolarisDiB

Hard to get everything that it aims for without focusing completely on it. Beautifully shot, brilliantly acted, with a phenomenal, well-rounded script. Certainly dense in detail and dialogue, but not mentally "dense". Watch this movie.

I do not, in any way believe that a film must have a "plot" to be successful and more often than not I find myself in a position of defending fine films that are accused of being "plotless" by those with a limited view of what movies should be. As a real Liberal who actually believes in Freedom of expression I also do not care about being politically correct. I am saying this because I sincerely believe that almost no one would be praising this film if it had not been made by a Black Woman. It is inept in every way except photographically (and even that becomes tiresome since is it is basically variations of the same shot for 1 hr and 52 minutes) There is nothing moving, original or worthwhile about this film. It begins nowhere and ends nowhere. In fact, there is NO there there. No characters, no drama, nothing intellectually or artistically stimulating about it... not even a lowly plot to hang it's emptiness on. Watch it if you must find out for yourself. Sorry Ms. Dash, your film may have been a labor of love, but in the end, it simply sucks.

Daughters of the Dust is film that slits the eyes of spectators who have been fed only linear and simplistic narrative/plot dev'ts through hollywoodism and can't possibly fathom any other way of being/thinking. It is truly an excruciating film to watch for those who have not dreamt and lived the "double consciousness" of modernity, for those who do NOT want to recall and remember the fact of american quilombos, maroon societies, slave revolters and runaways who succesfully established another way of life, not based on european dominance. This story is about the struggles of maintaining that community in 1902, a turning point in the life of this one maroon society. Dash breaks with cinematic codes in her experimental reconstruction of historical memory...a forgotten episode in African american history, a forgotten place, re-calling back to life ancestors that had survived and thrived: The Gullahs, Peazant family, persisting, unerasable, as the unborn child running through our memory, coming out of our past, forging a new and alternative future: a future that rejects the limitations of western epistemology. The summoning of these images to screen from the unwritten (african) past provides its own logic and development which Dash successfully visualizes in a polyphonic tradition, many voices, multiple perspectives. She does not allow a simplistic and individualistic rendering of this history...NO!she allows the struggle of divergent african perspectives, Christian, Muslim, Africanist, Native American to emerge in the same frame, to address that age old question: To exist or not to exist, to bear witness or to forget. In order for this history to exist and bear witness, Julie Dash does not allow any conventional reductionary scheme of narrativity, her temporal references are not linear. Her story is told through palimpestic time, the past present and future, overlapping and disjunctive: rupturing our understanding of history/memory and identity. The conflict that drives the film's narrative is not individual ego/conventional good vs bad drama/or boy gets girl(Hollywoodism); the conflict is how will the communal memory of these African survivors be salvaged from the ravaging of modernism's erasure..We see the family eat their last supper as the rite of passage to a life on the other side, a side that the ancestors fought to diverge from...The film is testimony to the african ancestors and to the spirit of resistance of slave revolters. Many people have offered criticism of dash's "feminism." Feminism is a problematic concept to apply to this film, no it is not feminist, it is afro-centric, matri-focal, and woman, as bearer of culture and memory as mother to the community, becomes the embodiment of that struggle. (of course it is not "feminist": it doesn't speak about abortion law, equal pay, etc etc..this kind of feminism is eurocentric and simplistic..) Thank you Julie Dash, i am not african american but the tears poured down my face as i, too, recalled that life left behind, another time another place. A place where people, muslims/christians/indigenous or any other can actually co-exist peacefully side by side, respectful of each other's differences. The character who chose to leave her so called "civilized" mother at the last minute, to take off with her Native American lover..is one of the most powerful onscreen testimony of love between indigenous peoples that has ever been made.

Most of the other comments have described what I loved about the film. It's one of my all-time favorites. I may have had an advantage - having just returned from a year in Jamaica when I first saw the film - the language was understandable to me without the subtitles most of the time. I have to say - I don't understand the folks that didn't get it. This film spoke to something deep inside me...something that perhaps all women share, whatever their background or color. Yes, it deepens ones understanding of a particular time and of a particular culture...but for me it goes way beyond that. I can only say, if you haven't seen it, rent it - decide for yourself. You'll thank me :).

I really enjoyed this movie. Its been a few years since I've seen it and I saw it twice. As a matter of fact, I'll rent it again or buy it if I can. No plot (I don't get the other poster comments). The movie was about a family and every day life as I saw it. I enjoyed it because it was pleasant, no guns, no thugs (lol), just a simple movie about a family and a group of people I knew nothing about. I still want to visit that area in South Carolina one day. I also enjoyed the movie because the actors are not well known actors in my eyes. I get tired of seeing the same actors in movies. I will do some research on the Gullah (sp) people.