Festival; in the same year, her film Diary of an Af-
rican Nun, inspired by an Alice Walker short story,
earned the Directors Guild Award at the Los An-
geles Film Exposition.
In 1981, Dash received a Guggenheim grant
to develop a series of films on black women. This
support led to her writing, producing, and direct-
ing Illusions (1983) and the early stages of research
for Daughters of the Dust (1991). Illusions, a 30-
minute short work, focuses on two black women
working at a Hollywood studio during World
War II. In the lead role, Lonette McKee portrays
a woman passing for white in order to work as a
studio executive; at the same time, another black
woman works behind the scenes as the dubbed-in
singing voice of white actresses. The film gained
critical praise and the distinction of being named
Best Film of the Decade in 1989 by the Black Film-
makers Foundation. Additionally, Dash’s screen-
play for the short film was published in Phyllis
Rauch Klotman’s Screenplays of the African Ameri-
can Experience (1991).
Receiving a wider audience and extensive criti-
cal adulation, Daughters of the Dust appeared after
years of misfires and struggles to complete the
work. Set in the early years of the 20th century in
South Carolina and Georgia’s Gullah Islands, the
film presents the celebration of the Peazant family
prior to their journey to the North. Told in an un-
conventional visual style, the film gives a particu-
lar emphasis to the women in the family, creating
a mosaic portrait of the cultural, spiritual, histori-
cal, and emotional elements that both connect and
collide. Serving as the writer and director, Dash
provides a story that echoes the important link
between past and present, as she weaves together
stunning images, music, and voice-overs in a lay-
ered treatment of black women characters. As one
critic surmised, “the film is an extended, wildly
lyrical meditation on the power of African cultural
iconography and the spiritual resilience of the gen-
erations of women who have been its custodians”
(Holden, C19). With its remarkable cinematog-
raphy, the film is a moving and unforgettable ex-
ploration of the beauty and complexities of black
women. Daughters of the Dust received the Film-
makers Magazine honor of being named one of the
50 most important independent films ever made.
In 1992 Dash published a book titled Daughters of
the Dust: The Making of an African American Wom-
an’s Film, which contains the screenplay and com-
mentary by TONI CADE BAMBARA and BELL HOOKS.
After publishing Daughters of the Dust, Dash
obtained a Fulbright Fellowship, which allowed
her to travel to London to collaborate on a screen-
play with Maureen Blackwood of Sankofa, a Black
British film collective. By the mid-1990s, Dash
was back in America working on various projects,
including music videos and cable television films
such as Subway Stories (1996), Funny Valentines
(1998), Incognito (1999), Love Song (2001), and
The Rosa Parks Story (2002).BIBLIOGRAPHY
Cooper, India. “Julie Dash.” In Facts On File Encyclo-
pedia of Black Women in America: Theater, Arts,
and Entertainment, edited by Darlene Clark Hine,
86–87. New York: Facts On File, 1997.
Dash, Julie. Daughters of the Dust: The Making of an
African American Woman’s Film. New York: New
Press, 1992.
Donalson, Melvin. Black Directors in Hollywood. Aus-
tin: University of Texas Press, 2003.
Holden, Stephen. “Daughters of the Dust.” New York
Times Film Review, 16 January 1992, p. C19.
Melvin DonalsonDatcher, Michael (1967– )
Born Michael Gerald Cole in 1967, in Chicago,
Illinois, Michael Datcher began his early child-
hood in Fort Wayne, Indiana, before his fam-
ily moved to Long Beach, California, where he
completed his secondary education. He pur-
sued athletics, specifically basketball, through
the college level. A mishap in admissions forms
caused him to receive a letter of acceptance to
the University of California at Berkeley (UCB),
where he earned a bachelor of science degree in
psychology in 1992. While at UCB, Datcher be-
came involved in student protests and activism.
On lecture circuits he spoke most often about
his involvement in the student protests againstDatcher, Michael 131