Daughters Of The Dust Analysis
Daughters of the Dust by Julie Dash came out in 1991. However, its impact on Hollywood is still felt today, noted by its recent restoration to the Film Forum in 2016, as well as a feature in Beyoncé’s music video Lemonade. However, Daughters of the Dust impacted not only Hollywood, but also African American woman’s representation in Hollywood. This is because it told the journey of an African American family through the female perspective. The films female centric platform was revolutionary. Having an African American woman’s voice hold the dominant position in a motion picture assisted in challenging Hollywood’s normality’s, as well as led to the movies overall success. However, despites the movies success and landmark in Hollywood history,
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It is through the movies success that Dash’s has assisted in paving the way for future African American women directors. However, Dash's as well as the movies path to success was paved with setbacks, specifically from the filmmaking industry. These setbacks can be seen through the extended amount of time it took Dash to produce the film, Daughters of the Dust, a total of 15 years . Daughter of the Dust's 15-year production time was due to Dash receiving constant obstacles from Hollywood, such as lack of funding. It received such setbacks not only because Dash was an African American woman entering a predominantly white job field, but also because she was attempting to change the way Hollywood told African Americans stories. Dash, through her movies, told the stories of African Americans through the black woman's perspective. Having a story told through a black woman's point of view in a major motion picture was new for Hollywood. It was new in that rather than having white males that told African American stories that weren’t their realities, the story came from an African American woman herself. This led to difficulties for Dash, because African American woman voices were struggling to be heard in real life, let alone in the film industry. Karen Backstein in The Cinematic Jazz of Julie Dash notes this struggle,
It is through the movies success that Dash’s has assisted in paving the way for future African American women directors. However, Dash's as well as the movies path to success was paved with setbacks, specifically from the filmmaking industry. These setbacks can be seen through the extended amount of time it took Dash to produce the film, Daughters of the Dust, a total of 15 years . Daughter of the Dust's 15-year production time was due to Dash receiving constant obstacles from Hollywood, such as lack of funding. It received such setbacks not only because Dash was an African American woman entering a predominantly white job field, but also because she was attempting to change the way Hollywood told African Americans stories. Dash, through her movies, told the stories of African Americans through the black woman's perspective. Having a story told through a black woman's point of view in a major motion picture was new for Hollywood. It was new in that rather than having white males that told African American stories that weren’t their realities, the story came from an African American woman herself. This led to difficulties for Dash, because African American woman voices were struggling to be heard in real life, let alone in the film industry. Karen Backstein in The Cinematic Jazz of Julie Dash notes this struggle,