Daughters of the Dust : Making of an African-American Woman's Film

Julie Dash wrote and directed "Daughters of the Dust", the first nationally distributed African American feature film to come out of America.

The film tells the story of an African American sea-island, or Gullah, family preparing to come to the mainland at the turn of the century.

In her visual and lyrical portrayal of the day of their departure, Dash evolves the details of a persisting African culture and the tensions between tradition and assimilation.

The book includes Dash's complete screenplay and describes the story of her extraordinary 16-year struggle to complete the project.

More than simply a tale of a rising artist, it is the record of an African American woman's determination to tell a story that is both historical and emotionally charged.

With an introduction by Toni Cade Bambara, an extended interview with Dash by feminist critic bell hooks, an essay by Greg Tate, Dash's story in her own words, and 16 pages of images from the film by cinematographer Arthur Jafa, this is a book for every admirer of the film and every student of cinema.