2013 Sotterley Speaker Series

Special Film Screening

Daughters of the Dust

Wednesday, May 8 at 7:00 p.m. in the Barn

Sotterley Plantation is proud to partner with The Boeing Company for the second event in this year’s Speaker Series.  In collaboration with the Environmental Film Festival in the Nation’s Capital, there will be a special film screening of Daughters of the Dust which was featured in March of this year at the National Gallery of Art.  Writer, editor, and producer Julie Dash first conceived of the film in 1975 and was inspired by her father’s family, Gullah who had migrated to New York. Developed over 10 years and initially rejected by Hollywood executives, Dash finally got financing from PBS’s American showcase. Her work is the first feature film by an African-American woman to be distributed theatrically in the US.

Selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress and a Sundance Film Festival award winner, Daughters of the Dust tells the story of the Peazant family living on St. Helena Island in 1902 as they prepare to migrate to the North. The Peazant family is Gullah, descendants of slaves who live in the Low Country region of South Carolina. Narrated by an unborn child, this powerful story uses rich language, song, and visual imagery to tell the story as two contrasting daughters come back to the island for a last dinner before most of the family leaves for the North.

This event is FREE to the public. Due to limited seating advance reservations are requested. Call 301-373-2280 to make your reservation today!