Connect with us

#NNPA BlackPress

‘Daughters’ Wins 2024 Sundance Film Festival Audience Award and Festival Favorite Award

NNPA NEWSWIRE — First-time doc director Angela Patton, CEO of Girls for Change, teamed with video music director Natalie Rae (Leon Bridges: Bad Bad News) and they documented the journey of four young girls looking forward to attending a prom in a Washington, D.C. prison. Aubrey, Santana, Raziah, and Ja’Ana are anxious as they prepare for the event. Their dads, Keith, Mark, Alonzo and Frank, are twice as nervous.
The post ‘Daughters’ Wins 2024 Sundance Film Festival Audience Award and Festival Favorite Award first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

Published

on

By Dwight Brown, Film Critic for DwightBrownInk.com and NNPA Newswire

(****)

When you start with a humanizing premise, there’s nowhere to go but up.

Documentaries that present solutions, not just observations, should be lauded and rewarded. That’s why praise has been bestowed on this heartwarming film and its mission to reunite daughters and their incarcerated dads. Bring a tissue when you see it. Maybe a whole box.

“My dad can’t come to the father/daughter dance because he’s in jail,” said one disappointed young girl at the Girls for Change Leadership Academy in Virginia. But she had a suggestion, “What if we had the dance in the jail.” And so, it began. A sheriff was asked to let a daughter/dad dance take place in his prison. He approved, it happened and that auspicious event in 2013 blossomed into the “Date with Dad” prison rehabilitation program.

First-time doc director Angela Patton, CEO of Girls for Change, teamed with video music director Natalie Rae (Leon Bridges: Bad Bad News) and they documented the journey of four young girls looking forward to attending a prom in a Washington, D.C. prison. Aubrey, Santana, Raziah, and Ja’Ana are anxious as they prepare for the event. Their dads, Keith, Mark, Alonzo and Frank, are twice as nervous.

The men attend educational and consciousness-raising therapy sessions for 10 weeks to prepare for the big reunion. They confess their apprehensions, hopes and ambitions as they study fatherhood and look back on their own lives. One laments that he isn’t present in his tween daughter’s life. As a 16-year-old, he’d impregnated her 14-year-old mother whose own dad was not around. He thinks if her father had been home policing her potential boyfriends, they might not have become teen parents. The dangers that lurk when fathers are absent are real to him. Another wishes he could witness his daughter’s growth: “Everything I wanted to do she’s doing. Everything I wanted to be she is.” Another confesses, he doesn’t know how to dance.

The girls express, anger, fear, envy and sadness as they yearn for their dads’ presence. Despair pushes one youngster into wanting to jump off a roof. The parents and children all need understanding, forgiveness and healing. Fortunately, they have a guardian angel, an auntie. The shaman-like Angela Patton encourages the children, counsels the weary mothers and assures the men that they’re needed: “Our daddies are our mirrors that we reflect back on when we decide about what type of man we deserve.”

Cinematographer Michael “Cambio” Fernandez’s invisible camerawork puts you in the center of the men’s discussion groups, on the collect calls from prison and in homes where kids reveal their deepest secrets. A group shot of the fathers in orange jumpsuits is sobering. A group shot of them in suits and ties, like they’re at an HBC fraternity reunion, is humanizing. You’re watching their rehabilitation in real time. These precious moments are judiciously assembled and clipped together by the filmmakers and editor Troy Josiah Lewis. Their only questionable creative decision is not cutting more of the post event footage.

During sensitive moments, sweet cello music (composer Kelsey Lu) plays. During reflective scenes, songs like “Happen,” by British singer/songwriter Sampha, fill the air with their deeply felt lyrics. In a haunting tenor voice, he croons: “You’re too scared to show me love. ‘Cause you’re too fresh with the scars… I can’t let this happen again. I found my love and I don’t wanna lose it again.”

Audiences will love all the girls, especially the extremely bright Aubrey who was around five years old during the filming. All the dads become leading men in their own movies and their metamorphoses are on view. That big day, when the daughters and fathers meet, hug, dance and exchange feelings is when viewers who’d previously dabbed their eyes with a few tissues will grab a bunch.

“Daughters” puts a face on those affected by incarceration. Children, parents and families all trying to find their way back to the center of life. People learning lessons and gaining wisdom. When one father says, “The streets don’t love us. Our kids love us,” you know that they’re all headed in the right direction.

For more information about the Sundance Film Festival go to: https://festival.sundance.org

Visit Film Critic Dwight Brown at DwightBrownInk.com.

The post ‘Daughters’ Wins 2024 Sundance Film Festival Audience Award and Festival Favorite Award first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

#NNPA BlackPress

IN MEMORIAM: Ramona Edelin, Influential Activist and Education Advocate, Dies at 78

NNPA NEWSWIRE — Born on September 4, 1945, in Los Angeles, California, activist Ramona Edelin’s early years were marked by a commitment to education and social justice. According to her HistoryMakers biography, after graduating from Fisk University with a Bachelor’s degree in 1967, she pursued further studies at the University of East Anglia in England. She earned her master’s degree before completing her Ph.D. at Boston University in 1981.
The post IN MEMORIAM: Ramona Edelin, Influential Activist and Education Advocate, Dies at 78 first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

Published

on

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia

Once upon a time, Black Americans were simply known as colored people, or Negroes. That is until Ramona Edelin came along. The activist, renowned for her pivotal roles in advancing civil rights, education reform, and community empowerment, died at her D.C. residence last month at the age of 78. Her death, finally confirmed this week by Barnaby Towns, a communications strategist who collaborated with Dr. Edelin, was attributed to cancer.

Born on September 4, 1945, in Los Angeles, California, Edelin’s early years were marked by a commitment to education and social justice. According to her HistoryMakers biography, after graduating from Fisk University with a Bachelor’s degree in 1967, she pursued further studies at the University of East Anglia in England. She earned her master’s degree before completing her Ph.D. at Boston University in 1981.

Edelin’s contributions to academia and activism were manifold. She was pivotal in popularizing the term “African American” alongside Rev. Jesse L. Jackson in the late 1980s.

Jackson had announced the preference for “African American,” speaking for summit organizers that included Dr. Edelin. “Just as we were called Colored, but were not that, and then Negro, but not that, to be called Black is just as baseless,” he said, adding that “African American” “has cultural integrity” and “puts us in our proper historical context.”

Later, Edelin told Ebony magazine, “Calling ourselves African Americans is the first step in the cultural offensive,” while linking the name change to a “cultural renaissance” in which Black Americans reconnected with their history and heritage.

“Who are we if we don’t acknowledge our motherland?” she asked later. “When a child in a ghetto calls himself African American, immediately he’s international. You’ve taken him from the ghetto and put him on the globe.”

The HistoryMakers bio noted that Edelin’s academic pursuits led her to found and chair the Department of African American Studies at Northeastern University, where she established herself as a leading voice.

Transitioning from academia to advocacy, Edelin joined the National Urban Coalition in 1977, eventually ascending to president and CEO. During her tenure, she spearheaded initiatives such as the “Say Yes to a Youngster’s Future” program, which provided crucial support in math, science, and technology to youth and teachers of color in urban areas. Her biography noted that Edelin’s efforts extended nationwide through partnerships with organizations like the National Science Foundation and the United States Department of Education.

President Bill Clinton recognized Edelin’s expertise by appointing her to the Presidential Board on Historically Black Colleges and Universities in 1998. She also co-founded and served as treasurer of the Black Leadership Forum, solidifying her standing as a respected leader in African American communities.

Beyond her professional achievements, Edelin dedicated herself to numerous boards and committees, including chairing the District of Columbia Educational Goals 2000 Panel and contributing to the Federal Advisory Committee for the Black Community Crusade for Children.

Throughout her life, Edelin received widespread recognition for her contributions. Ebony magazine honored her as one of the 100 Most Influential Black Americans, and she received prestigious awards such as the Southern Christian Leadership Award for Progressive Leadership and the IBM Community Executive Program Award.

The post IN MEMORIAM: Ramona Edelin, Influential Activist and Education Advocate, Dies at 78 first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

Continue Reading

#NNPA BlackPress

Tennessee State University Board Disbanded by MAGA Loyalists as Assault on DE&I Continues

NNPA NEWSWIRE — Recent legislative actions in Tennessee, such as repealing police reform measures enacted after the killing of Tyre Nichols, underscore a troubling trend of undermining local control and perpetuating racist agendas. The new law preventing local governments from restricting police officers’ authority disregards community efforts to address systemic issues of police violence and racial profiling.
The post Tennessee State University Board Disbanded by MAGA Loyalists as Assault on DE&I Continues first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

Published

on

By Stacy M. Brown, NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
@StacyBrownMedia

Tennessee State University (TSU), the state’s only public historically Black college and university (HBCU), faces a tumultuous future as Gov. Bill Lee dissolved its board, a move supported by racist conservatives and MAGA Republicans in the Tennessee General Assembly, who follow the lead of the twice-impeached, four-times indicted, alleged sexual predator former President Donald Trump. Educators and others have denounced the move as an attack on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) and a grave setback for higher education.

Critics argue that TSU’s purported financial mismanagement is a manufactured crisis rooted in decades of underinvestment by the state government. They’ve noted that it continues a trend by conservatives and the racist MAGA movement to eliminate opportunities for Blacks in education, corporate America, and the public sector.

Gevin Reynolds, a former speechwriter for Vice President Kamala Harris, emphasizes in an op-ed that TSU’s financial difficulties are not the result of university leadership because a recent audit found no evidence of fraud or malfeasance.

Reynolds noted that the disbanding of TSU’s board is not an isolated incident but part of a broader assault on DE&I initiatives nationwide. Ten states, including Tennessee, have enacted laws banning DE&I policies on college campuses, while governors appointing MAGA loyalists to university trustee positions further undermine efforts to promote inclusivity and equality.

Moreover, recent legislative actions in Tennessee, such as repealing police reform measures enacted after the killing of Tyre Nichols, underscore a troubling trend of undermining local control and perpetuating racist agendas. The new law preventing local governments from restricting police officers’ authority disregards community efforts to address systemic issues of police violence and racial profiling.

The actions echo historical efforts to suppress Black progress, reminiscent of the violent backlash against gains made during the Reconstruction era. President Joe Biden warned during an appearance in New York last month that Trump desires to bring the nation back to the 18th and 19th centuries – in other words, to see, among other things, African Americans back in the chains of slavery, women subservient to men without any say over their bodies, and all voting rights restricted to white men.

The parallels are stark, with white supremacist ideologies used to justify attacks on Black institutions and disenfranchise marginalized communities, Reynolds argued.

In response to these challenges, advocates stress the urgency of collective action to defend democracy and combat systemic racism. Understanding that attacks on institutions like TSU are symptomatic of broader threats to democratic norms, they call for increased civic engagement and voting at all levels of government.

The actions of people dedicated to upholding the principles of inclusivity, equity, and justice for all will determine the outcome of the ongoing fight for democracy, Reynolds noted. “We are in a war for our democracy, one whose outcome will be determined by every line on every ballot at every precinct,” he stated.

The post Tennessee State University Board Disbanded by MAGA Loyalists as Assault on DE&I Continues first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

Continue Reading

#NNPA BlackPress

Braxton Haulcy and the Expansion of Walker|West Music Academy

May 24, 2023 – Walker West Music Academy gets an early start on expansion. Join us for a Wednesday episode of The …
The post Braxton Haulcy and the Expansion of Walker|West Music Academy first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

Published

on

By


May 24, 2023 – Walker West Music Academy gets an early start on expansion. Join us for a Wednesday episode of The …

The post Braxton Haulcy and the Expansion of Walker|West Music Academy first appeared on BlackPressUSA.

Continue Reading

Subscribe to receive news and updates from the Oakland Post

* indicates required

CHECK OUT THE LATEST ISSUE OF THE OAKLAND POST

ADVERTISEMENT

WORK FROM HOME

Home-based business with potential monthly income of $10K+ per month. A proven training system and website provided to maximize business effectiveness. Perfect job to earn side and primary income. Contact Lynne for more details: Lynne4npusa@gmail.com 800-334-0540

Facebook

Trending

Copyright ©2021 Post News Group, Inc. All Rights Reserved.