This spellbinding feature by director Julie Dash follows the Gullah community living on Ibo Landing.

Set on an island off of the coast of South Carolina, the Gullah people struggle to preserve their identity at the turn of the twentieth century. 

‘We are two people in one body. The last of the old and the first of the new.’ These are the words of Nana Peazant, one of the Gullah islanders contemplating what a move to the mainland would mean – tradition clashing into modernity.

With absorbing visuals and poetic narration, Daughters of the Dust delves into the minds of its female characters as they embark on their migration to mainland USA, paying tribute to culture, spirit and tradition of the Gullah people. 

The first full-length film by an African-American woman with general theatrical release in the United States.

Cinema has lent itself as a medium for minorities and the dispossessed to challenge their marginality through storytelling. Daughters of the Dust is presented as part of Barbican’s The Battle for Representation series.