This weekend, the Nickelodeon will present “Daughters: Celebrating Emerging Female Filmmakers of Color,” a film festival featuring work by ten female filmmakers of color. This three-day event will include an collection of films to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Julie Dash’s film “Daughters of the Dust.” This was the first feature length film directed by an African American woman to be theatrically distributed in the United States.
The festival will run from Nov. 11 to Nov. 13. Festival passes can be purchased on the Nickelodeon’s website for complete access to the entire event, and students can use promotional code “dust” for $15 off of the $50 pass. Students can also purchase individual tickets online with promotional code “dash” for a $3 discount. A complete schedule of events can be found on the “Daughters” website.
The film festival will showcase films by many emerging artists and will also include talk-backs with the visiting filmmakers. Roni Nicole Henderson, one of the festival’s co-curators, and Nikky Finney, poet and professor of African American studies and creative writing and Southern letters at USC, will also be moderating the talk-backs.
“I don't believe a women of color film festival has ever happened in South Carolina before. Its a first!” Finney said. “As a community we need these kinds of artistic moments in order to have the kinds of conversations we need to keep having as neighbor and citizen."
These filmmakers, coming from across the nation, will meet in Columbia to show their work and interact with the community. Artists from as close as Atlanta, where filmmaking duo House of June is located, and as far as Oakland, California, where Nijla Mu’min creates short films, have been invited by the Nickelodeon to showcase their work.
While these filmmakers are making strides in the same industry, their subject matter is as diverse as their geography. Where Nefertite Nguvu explores love and relationships in her film “In the Morning,” Garrett Bradley expresses what it’s like to be a struggling musician in “Cover Me.” Roni Nicole Henderson will also be presenting two short films that explore how God affects people in various situations.
“Daughters” is a celebration of an important anniversary, but it’s also a way to highlight women of color who are creating contemporary and significant works.
“We want to contribute to putting these women on a pedestal and putting a spotlight on their work and on who they are in the industry,” said Kristin Morris, marketing manager for the Nickelodeon.
Unlike traditional film festivals with judges and awards, “Daughters” is aiming to create conversation and celebration.