Cascade Backwards

Daughters of the Dust is a 1991 independent drama film written, directed, and produced by Julie Dash. It is the first feature film directed by an African-American woman to receive a theatrical release in the United States. Set in 1902, the film centers on three generations of Gullah (or Geechee) women from the Peazant family on Saint Helena Island, South Carolina, as they prepare to migrate from the rural South to the North. The film received critical praise for its lush visuals, use of Gullah language, and non-linear narrative structure. The cast includes Cora Lee Day, Alva Rogers, Barbara-O, Trula Hoosier, Vertamae Grosvenor, and Kaycee Moore. Daughters of the Dust was filmed on location on Saint Helena Island, with Arthur Jafa serving as the director of photography. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 1991, where Jafa won the top cinematography award. Daughters of the Dust was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in 2004, being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." The film was restored and re-released in 2016 by the Cohen Media Group to mark its 25th anniversary. Additionally, Dash has authored two books related to the film: a making-of memoir co-written with Toni Cade Bambara and bell hooks, and a sequel novel set two decades after the events of the film.