Daughters of the Dust

“Daughters conceives of new symbols for black American struggle and resilience.”—Film Comment

The Wex is honored to host Julie Dash and the world premiere of the new restoration of her groundbreaking Daughters of the Dust, on the 25th anniversary of its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. The first US feature by an African American woman to see wide theatrical release, Daughters is “one of the most distinctive, original independent films of the time,” writes New Yorker’s Richard Brody, and Dash “one of the heroines of the modern cinema.”

Friday evening’s screening, postscreening Q&A, and VIP reception with Julie Dash and Melissa Harris-Perry is now sold out, but you can join the waitlist (at right) to be contacted about additional tickets if they become available. Tickets remain for the Saturday night screening—don’t wait to purchase yours today. 

Set in the early 1900s, Daughters offers a vivid portrait of Gullah Geechee culture—communities descended from enslaved Africans who settled along the coast and Sea Islands of South Carolina and Georgia. Arthur Jafa’s stunning color cinematography captures the last gathering of the Peazant family as the younger generation prepares to leave the island and their matriarch Nana Peazant (Cora Lee Day) for the promise of the mainland. With Barbara O, Alva Rogers, and Trula Hoosier. The production design is by past Wexner Center Artist Residency Award recipient Kerry James Marshall. (113 mins., 2K DCP)

See Radiohead’s latest video, Daydreaming (Paul Thomas Anderson, 2016), in 35mm before our Saturday screening. The Wex is one of a limited number of venues in the country to receive a print of this much-talked-about new video. 

Daughters of the Dust was restored from the original internegative at Modern Videofilm by Cohen Film Collection. The final color grade was approved by cinematographer Arthur Jafa. Special thanks to The UCLA Film & Television Archive.

Special thanks also goes to Tim Lanza of the Cohen Film Collection for his assistance with this event.