Daughters of the Dust

 I thought Daughters of the Dust by Julie Dash was really unique for it's time and even now. In class we discussed how it was one of the first feature films that an African-America women directed that was distributed throughout the United States. This would play a major role of what details were in the film. Since the writer/director was African-America she could get details that a white director would not think of in a film about black people. Julie Dash was able to get the ways people pronounced words or the slang they would say. This would bring more meaning and emotions to it.

Also, I thought the use of sound was interesting. Connecting to before there were the ways that words were pronounced we be more realistic. Also at the beginning, there was the intro music that was there for a couple minutes. This music was backed up by scenes of nature that it brought the idea of locations and nature would play an important role. Unlike typical Hollywood films where the background music in the film are all clumped together as if it was on one track and it makes it easier to subconsciously ignore it. Daughters of Dust there is a strong presence of nature sounds like leaves rustling in the wind and animal sounds. It was louder than typical background music so you are conscious of it and helps you feel as if you are there in nature.

Comments

  1. astra medeirosApril 24, 2021 at 6:40 PM

    I definitely enjoyed the sound in this film. There was a clear connection between their Islander life and nature that tied into their ultimate dilemma of the family 'splitting apart' and their familial (and cultural) identity.

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  2. Ethan SwansonApril 25, 2021 at 11:25 AM

    I definitely thought the heightened sound added to the struggle of the Peazant family leaving Ibo Landing. It helped give the viewer the same sense of reverence and love for the island that the family had, so we also felt how hard it was for them to leave.

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  3. UnknownApril 25, 2021 at 4:48 PM

    I spent so much time analyzing the cinematography and didn't really take as much time to consider so I enjoyed reading your thoughts on it. I agree that the sound added to the overall experience of the movie. - Davis Wukovits

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  4. charlieApril 25, 2021 at 7:41 PM

    The nature sounds stuck out to me as well. I honestly think they are super significant to the overall feel of the film and think they almost made the environment its own character. There were many scenes throughout the film of simply the natural setting of the movie with background noises. These scenes almost reminded me of Reassemblage. Its as if the scenes were a way of communicating the emotions of the environment the movie took place in that could not be put to words.

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  5. Michael ZhangApril 25, 2021 at 8:59 PM

    This film has done a terrific job on approaching the black culture though the language and music. The sound effect embraces some African elements and create the feeling that the island is like their comfort zone. Stepping out the island is the struggle, and this film perfectly shape this as well through these elements.

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