The Vision of Julie Dash

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Perhaps more than any other contemporary filmmaker, Julie Dash and her movies have inspired a generation of women to become filmmakers and also made clear to audiences the possibility of a cinema outside the classic Hollywood paradigm. Her impact on the independent film community here in Philadelphia, particularly on mediamakers of color, has been enormous. We are honored to have Ms. Dash at Scribe as we present a retrospective of her work and also a chance to see some of her current projects.

Program One:
Tuesday, January 12 5:30 PM
International House, 3701 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia

Funny Valentines
producer – Scott White, executive producer – Alfre Woodard, director – Julie Dash
A woman returns to her home town to sort out her troubled marriage and finds new happiness in the rekindling of a broken friendship with her cousin. Starring Alfre Woodard, Loretta Devine and CCH Pounder, based on a short story by J. California Cooper. (1999, 108 minutes)

Program Two:
Tuesday, January 12 8:00 PM
International House, 3701 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia

Illusions a film by Julie Dash
It is 1942, one year after Pearl Harbor; the setting is National Studios, a Hollywood motion picture studio. Mignon Duprée, a Black woman studio executive who appears to be white and Ester Jeeter, an African American woman who is the singing voice for a white Hollywood star are forced to come to grips with a society that perpetuates false images as status quo. This acclaimed drama follows Mignon's dilemma, Ester's struggle and the use of cinema in wartime Hollywood. Starring Lonette McKee, Roseanne Katon and Ned Bellamy. (USA, 1983 34 minutes)

Daughters of the Dust a film by Julie Dash
Daughters of the Dust tells the story of three generations of Gullah women at the turn of the 20th century and focuses on the family's migration from the Sea Islands to the American mainland. Against the wishes of the family matriarch, Nana, the younger Peazants are planning to leave the island. Viola Peazant, who has turned her back completely on the African folk-ways still practiced by Nana, is elated at the family's decision to "cross over" and has brought a photographer to capture the event for posterity. Starring Cora Lee Davis, Alva Rogers and BarbaraO. (1992, 112 minutes)

Program Three:
Wednesday, January 13 7PM
Scribe Video Center, 4212 Chestnut Street 3rd Floor, Philadelphia

Diary of an African Nun a film by Julie Dash
An African nun is consumed by fear and doubt about her decision to take the solemn vows of poverty, chastity and obedience that comes with being a nun. Her anguish intensifies night after night as she lies on a hard bed in her small room at the convent and listens to the rhythmic, beckoning drums of her village. Adapted from an Alice Walker short and starring BarbaraO. (1977, 13 minutes)

Praise House a film by Julie Dash
Praise House, a collaboration with Jawole Willa Jo Zollar, the founder of Urban Bush Women, explores the source of creativity and its effect on three generations of African American women. Praise House shows the emotional prison so many people live in, even as it celebrates the persistence of belief and creativity, and the splendid legacies African Americans have preserved against all odds. (1991, 25 minutes)

Sax Cantor Riff from SUBWAY Stories: Tales from the Underground a film by Julie Dash
Created for the HBO series SUBWAY Stories, Sax Cantor Riff is the story of fellow travelers united by music. With Kenny Garret and Sam Rockwell. (1997, 12 minutes)

Love Song a film by Julie Dash
Camille Livingston is the daughter of prosperous African American parents in New Orleans. Living in a sheltered home life, she agonizes over whether to stay with the black man with a stable future or the white man with a dead-end career who incites her passions. Starring Monica Arnold, Tyrese Gibson and Rozanda ‘Chili’ Thompson. (2000, 90 minutes)

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Julie Dash has written, directed and/or produced more than a dozen films including Four Women, The Rosa Parks Story, Love Song, Incognito, many of which are considered classics of American cinema. With the debut of Daughters of the Dust in January 1992, Julie Dash became the first African American woman to have a general theatrical feature release in the United States. In 1999, the Newark Black Film Festival honored Ms. Dash and her film Daughters of the Dust as being one of the most important cinematic achievements in Black Cinema in the 20th century. And in 2004, Daughters of the Dust was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress, cited as a National treasure, being "culturally, historically, and aesthetically significant".

Ms. Dash’s credits include many made for TV movies (FourWomen for Showtime, Sax Cantor Riff for HBO) and music videos, in addition to her narrative films. She has had the pleasure of directing some of the most accomplished African American actors and musical artists working today, and is the recipient of numerous fellowships and creative awards. In 2009, she was honored with a retrospective by Taiwan’s Women Make Waves International Film Festival.

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The Vision of Julie Dash is supported by the African American Chamber of Commerce, Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation, and Leeway Foundation. The Producers’ Forum series is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, Philadelphia Cultural Fund, the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, and the Independence Foundation.