Daughters of the Dust

At the dawn of the 20th century, a multigenerational family in the Gullah community in the Sea Islands off of South Carolina — former West African slaves who adopted many of their ancestors' traditions — suffers a generational split. An older group of sisters returns after migrating north to New York with intentions of bringing the rest of their family back across the water to the mainland with them. But tensions arrive when the newly Americanized sisters view their homeland’s way of living as backwards, all while Nana, the family elder who embodies the traditions and folklore of their African roots, is struggling to keep the family together and to pass on the knowledge of their ancestors.

Restoration in conjunction with The UCLA Film & Television Archive

Selected for Preservation by the United States Film Registry

1991 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL – CINEMATOGRAPHY AWARD, DRAMATIC, ARTHUR JAFA

USA | Gullah / English | 1991 | 112 min | HD