Julie Dash

Director

About

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Also Known As

Julie Dash Fielder

Birth Place

New York City, New York, USA

Born

October 22, 1952

Biography

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Renowned for being almost too ahead of her time, filmmaker Julie Dash was perhaps best known for directing the landmark 1992 period drama "Daughters of the Dust" (1992). Born in New York in 1952, Dash earned her undergraduate degree from the Leonard Davis Center for the Performing Arts at City College of New York, later procuring an MFA from UCLA Film School. Among her first major projec...

Filmography

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The Rosa Parks Story (2002)

Love Song (2000)

Subway Stories: Tales From the Underground (1997)

Director ("Sax Cantor Riff")

Daughters of the Dust (1991)

Praise House (1991)

Illusions (1982)

Photos & Videos

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Daughters Of The Dust (1991) -- (Movie Clip) I Am The First And The Last

Daughters Of The Dust (1991) -- (Movie Clip) This Is The Seed Time Of Life

Bibliography

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"Daughters of the Dust"

Julie Dash (1997)

Biography

Renowned for being almost too ahead of her time, filmmaker Julie Dash was perhaps best known for directing the landmark 1992 period drama "Daughters of the Dust" (1992). Born in New York in 1952, Dash earned her undergraduate degree from the Leonard Davis Center for the Performing Arts at City College of New York, later procuring an MFA from UCLA Film School. Among her first major projects was writing and directing the short "Working Models of Success" (1973) for the New York Urban Coalition. She would then direct short films like "Four Women" (1975) and "Illusions" (1982) in addition to commercials and PSAs. When Dash finally broke through with her feature film debut, "Daughters of the Dust," she became the first African-American woman to have a full-length general theatrical release in the United States. The movie's impeccably curated visuals, intense but subtle themes, and well paced momentum made it a major phenomenon, and yet the film failed to garner Dash new feature film opportunities, as major and even minor studios remained dumbfounded about how to market films made by and about African-American women. She would spend the next several years either making films without the aid of the studio system, like 1999's "Funny Valentines" (1999), or directing movies for TV, like "Incognito" (BET, 1999) and "Love Song" (MTV, 2000). In 2017, Dash returned to the big screen, directing the documentary "Travel Notes of a Geechee Girl" (2017).

Filmography

Director (Feature Film)

The Rosa Parks Story (2002)

Love Song (2000)

Subway Stories: Tales From the Underground (1997)

Director ("Sax Cantor Riff")

Daughters of the Dust (1991)

Praise House (1991)

Illusions (1982)

Four Women (1978)

Diary of an African Nun (1977)

Assistant Direction (Feature Film)

My Brother's Wedding (1983)

Assistant Director

Cast (Feature Film)

World Beat (1993)

Writer (Feature Film)

Subway Stories: Tales From the Underground (1997)

Screenplay ("Sax Cantor Riff")

Daughters of the Dust (1991)

Producer (Feature Film)

Daughters of the Dust (1991)

Director (Special)

Positive: Life With HIV (1996)

Segment Director

Cast (Special)

I'll Make Me a World: A Century of African-American Arts (1999)

Producer (Special)

Positive: Life With HIV (1996)

Segment Producer

Director (TV Mini-Series)

Funny Valentines (1999)

Incognito (1999)

Life Events

1968

First became interested in film making when she visited a friend at a film workshop at the Studio Museum in Harlem

1972

Wrote and directed "Working Models of Success" for the New York Urban Coalition.

1975

Directed the short film "Four Women."

1982

Directed the short film "Illusions."

1991

Directed, wrote and co-produced first feature film, "Daughters of the Dust"

1999

Helmed the TV-movie "Funny Valentines" (BET/Starz!)

1999

Directed the TV movie "Incognito."

2000

Directed the TV movie "Love Song."

2002

Directed the TV movie "The Rosa Parks Story."

2017

Wrote, directed, and produced the documentary "Travel Notes of a Geechee Girl."

Videos

Daughters Of The Dust (1991) -- (Movie Clip) I Am The First And The Last Following a prologue on the Gullah communities off South Carolina and Georgia, director Julie Dash explores island life, with Philadelphian Viola (Cheryl Lynn Bruce) and photographer Snead (Tommy Hicks) returning to visit cousins Yellow Mary (Barbara-O) and others, in Daughters Of The Dust, 1991.

Daughters Of The Dust (1991) -- (Movie Clip) This Is The Seed Time Of Life As family celebrations continue on St. Simons island, Georgia, 1902, cousin Viola (Cheryl Lynn Bruce), a fervent Christian visiting from Philadelphia, reads scripture as Yellow Mary visits with family matriarch Nana (Cora Lee Day), in writer-producer-director Julie Dash’s Daughters Of The Dust, 1991.

Daughters Of The Dust (1991) -- (Movie Clip) Open, Gullah Communities Opening credits with an introduction to the distinctive original score by John Barnes, then a prologue about the Gullah inhabitants of Sea Island, Georgia, the setting for writer-producer-director Julie Dash’s celebrated turn-of-the-20th century family portrait, Daughters Of The Dust, 1991.

Daughters Of The Dust (1991) -- (Movie Clip) Like The Water Was Solid Ground Continuing the non-linear examination of the reunion of the Gullah Peazant family of Sea Island, Georgia, in 1902, pregnant Eula (Alva Rodgers), victim of a rape by a white man, speaks now for and about her unborn child, who narrated earlier in a female voice, recounting a legend, as her husband Eli (Adisa Anderson) finds the floating African statue, Ervin Green the minister on the beach, in Julie Dash’s Daughters Of The Dust, 1991.

Daughters Of The Dust (1991) -- (Movie Clip) Respect Your Ancestors As the Peazant family enjoys a reunion on St. Simons island, Georgia, 1902, grandson Eli (Adisa Anderson), contemplating a move to the mainland, visits with grandmother Nana (Cora Lee Day), who has firm instructions, in Daughters Of The Dust, 1991, from writer, producer and director Julie Dash.

Family

N'Zinga Dash

Daughter

Born c. 1984; named after Angolan warrior queen.

Bibliography

"Daughters of the Dust"

Julie Dash (1997)

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