Daughters of the Dust (1991)

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 ... See full summary »

Director:

Julie Dash

Writer:

Julie Dash

Stars:

Cora Lee Day, Alva Rogers, Barbarao

4 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Cora Lee Day	...	Nana Peazant
Alva Rogers	...	Eula Peazant
Barbarao	...	Yellow Mary
Trula Hoosier	...	Trula
Umar Abdurrahamn	...	Bilal Muhammad
Adisa Anderson	...	Eli Peazant
Kaycee Moore	...	Haagar Peazant
Bahni Turpin	...	Iona Peazant
Cheryl Lynn Bruce	...	Viola Peazant
Tommy Redmond Hicks	...	Mr. Snead
Tony King	...	Newlywed Man (as Malik Farrakhan)
Cornell Royal	...	Daddy Mack Peazant
Vertamae Grosvenor	...	Hair Braider
Sherry Jackson	...	Older Cousin
Ervin Green	...	Baptist Minister (as Reverend Ervin Green)

Storyline

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.

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Plot Keywords:

triple f rated | title directed by female | feminist film | island | gullah culture | 

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Genres:

Drama | History | Romance

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Country:

UK USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

27 December 1991 (USA)

Also Known As:

Córki pylu

Filming Locations:

St. Helena Island, South Carolina, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$4,624, 5 January 1992, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$1,642,436

Company Credits

Production Co:

American Playhouse, Geechee Girls, WMG Film

Technical Specs

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Selected to the Library of Congress National Registry of Film in 2004.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Nana Peazant: I am the first and the last. I am the honored one and the scorned one. I am the whore and the holy one. I am the wife and the virgin. I am the barren one and many are my daughters. I am the silence that you can not understand. I am the utterance of my name.

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Connections

Referenced in Ebert Presents: At the Movies: Episode #2.21 (2011)

User Reviews

Unwatchable

I saw this film for a film class at UF. We have seen some slow and some fast-paced films. This is by far the slowest we have seen and is the most boring piece of cinema I have ever seen.

Now, it's not ALL bad. The movie has some cultural significance and was obviously researched before filming. The shot selection was very good, colors vibrant, and you could feel the actors' emotions.

But the story... was slow. There's a load of characters and I couldn't figure out who was related to who and what all had happened with the pregnant woman. The movie was like the opening title-card sequence to Black Hawk Down stretched out to 2 hours in length. There's parts with loads of music and no dialogue and vice versa. The movie seemed to reach an ending 5 times before it finally did. The writer-director clearly had no clue as to what pacing was.

The story was basically about some African-Americans at the turn of the century who boat down to their family on the shores of some island that is separated on one side by a river and the ocean on the other. They want a better life and are split about whether the island or the mainland is the better spot for it. It takes them two agonizing (to us) hours to decide.

Long [very long] story short: half the class walked out in the first hour. And I was jealous of those who did when I reached the end of the film. 2/10