1991 seems too late a date for the first U.S. theatrical release of a feature film directed by an African American woman, but hey – this country’s often tardy to the progress party. Julie Dash first conceived of what later became her three-generation exploration of Gullah women in 1975, when she planned to create a short film inspired by her father’s family’s migration from the South to NYC. Hollywood execs rejected her nonlinear story, but Dash ultimately secured funds from PBS in order to create this picture culturally significant enough to earn a place in the National Film Registry. AFS screens Dash’s debut in its Essential Cinema: The L.A. Rebellion series alongside films like Passing Through, which Dash worked on as part of the sound department. – James Scott
