Daughters of the Dust at The Void, Sheffield
Tom Grieve, Cinema Editor
The not-for-profit film programmers at Rare Giants demonstrate their impeccable taste with a free screening of Julie Dash’s lyrical 90s film Daughters of the Dust at Sheffield’s The Void, this May. An avowed influence on Beyoncé’s visual album Lemonade, Dash’s supremely original film follows three generations of women in the Pezant family in South Carolina in 1902. The film catches the family at a crucial moment, as they prepare to migrate north and meet the modern world, endangering the well-preserved Gullah culture that they have inherited from their West African slave ancestors. Filmed on the secluded sea islands off the coast of South Carolina, the use of dialect, slow-motion camerawork and languid pacing all contribute to a dreamlike, otherworldly quality that is hard to shake.
Daughters of the Dust is one of the essential pieces of 90s independent cinema and an unmissable event for Sheffield cinephiles but be sure to turn up early. Tickets are free but do not guarantee entry–entry will be on a first come, first served basis.
