Julie Dash Movies
Independent filmmaker Julie Dash is probably best known for her ground-breaking, 34-minute film Illusions, which tells the story of two Black women with disparate jobs in the Hollywood film industry in the '40s. Dash studied film at the American Film Institute and attended the UCLA film school in the '70s where she became known as one of what critic Clyde Talor called the 'LA Rebellion' in Black Cinema; all of Dash's films center around the self-image and definition of black women. In 1991 she released a full-length feature film, Daughters of the Dust, that tells the tale of a Gullah family living on an island off the Southern coast in the early 1900s. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
Angela Bassett plays the title role in this meticulously detailed biography of pioneering civil rights activist Rosa McCauley Parks. Even as a child, Rosa stands separate from her fellow African-Americans; instead of being shipped off to a shabby public school, she is enrolled in a private classroom run by Quakers, who encourage the girl to transcend the severe limitations of legalized segregation in her home state of Alabama. In her late teens, Rosa marries barber Raymond Parks (Peter Francis James), a politically savvy and outspoken proponent of equal rights for all. For many years suffering in silence as the iniquities of the South's Jim Crow laws consign her to second-class-citizen status, Rosa finally joins the local branch of the NAACP with the encouragement of her childhood friend Rebecca "Johnnie" Carr (Tonea Stewart) -- much to the dismay of husband Raymond, who feels that the organization is ineffective in its ongoing battle against the white power structure. Rosa's personal struggle against institutionalized racism reaches its zenith on the night of December 1, 1955, when, bone-weary after a long day's work as a seamstress at a Montgomery department store, she refuses to give up her seat on a bus to a white man -- and is promptly arrested. Thus are the wheels set in motion for the first major Civil Rights demonstration of the 1950s, with Rosa rising to heroic status in the eyes of her people, an event that also profoundly alters the life of local religious leader Martin Luther King Jr. (played by the Reverend's son, Dexter Scott King). Mostly filmed on location in Alabama, The Rosa Parks Story features Cicely Tyson as Rosa's strong-willed mother Leona and Mrs. Parks' longtime friend Rebecca Daniels Carr in a cameo role. The film was shown as part of CBS' celebration of Black History Month on February 24, 2002. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Angela Bassett, Peter Francis James, (more)
- 2000
Recording artist Monica Arnold stars in this made-for-cable drama as African-American pre-med student Camille Livingston. Having been carefully raised in the lap of privilege and luxury by her wealthy, "mixed" parents, Camille is fully prepared to make her doctor father's dream come true by following in his footsteps. She is also resigned to wed a "safe" young man, fellow student Calvin (Rainbow Francks), at her parents' behest. All of this changes when she falls head over heels in love with college drop-out Billy Ryan Gallo (Christian Kane), a struggling young jazz musician. Filmed in Montreal, Love Song was first broadcast over MTV on December 1, 2000. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Monica Arnold, Christian Kane, (more)
- 1999
After returning to her hometown to contemplate her troubled marriage, a woman finds renewed hope as she and the cousin with whom she was once best friends slowly reconcile their own fractured relationship. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alfre Woodard, Loretta Devine, (more)
Produced for cable's BET network, Incognito can be described as an African-American variation of the sort of TV-movie fare that had previously been the exclusive province of such Caucasian actresses as Victoria Principal and Cheryl Ladd. Wealthy, gorgeous female executive Erin Courtland (Allison Dean) is raped by a lowlife named Derek Scanlon (Phil Morris), who manages to elude arrest and begins stalking the harried heroine. When it becomes obvious that Erin's sniveling fiancé Quinn (Roger Guenveur Smith) will be of no help to her whatsoever, Erin's dad Marcus (Ron Glass) engages the services of bulked-up bodyguard Jake Hunter (Richard T. Jones). To be sure, a romance ensues, with all the attendant clichés of this sort of formula film fare, albeit with fascinating side glances at such Afrocentric topics as sickle-cell anemia and social unrest. Adapted from a novel by Francis Ray, Incognito made its TV debut on September 17, 1999. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Allison Dean, Richard T. Jones, (more)
Subways provide the common setting for this modern anthology comprised of distinct vignettes made by ten of Hollywood's top directors and featuring some of Tinseltown's most popular actors. The episodes are based on real stories submitted by scores of subway regulars. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rosie Perez, Mercedes Ruehl, (more)
At the turn of the century, West African slaves were brought to a small island near South Carolina to labor in the indigo trade. Isolated in the swampy atmosphere, the Gullah community was built based on ancient Yoruba traditions. They spoke in a distinct dialect, a combination of English and West African languages. This unique community is explored in Julie Dash's debut feature Daughters of the Dust, a costume drama about the Peazant family, a fictional group of Gullah natives living on Ido Landing. The secluded family experiences conflicts surrounding religion, industrialization, and tradition. The mystical matriarch Nana (Cora Lee Day) holds true to the beliefs of their anscestors, while Haagar (Kaycee Moore) can't wait to move away. Yellow Mary (Barbara O) returns from a life as a prostitute in Cuba with her girlfriend, and gets morally attacked by the reformed Christian Viola (Cheryl Lynn Bruce). Meanwhile, indifferent Eula (Alva Rogers) is pregnant with a baby that may or may not be the result of a rape. While the story doesn't attempt to follow a standard Eurocentric narrative, the plot revolves around a picnic on the shore in honor of the family members who chose to move to the prosperity of the north. The narrator is a spirit called the Unborn Child, who appears sometimes as a rambunctious little girl. A photographer accompanies the group to capture the events on film. ~ Andrea LeVasseur, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Alva Rogers, Barbara O, (more)
- 1983
From the director of Daughters of the Dust and Four Women comes an award-winning drama about the reality behind the facade of WWII-era Hollywood. The film follows the story of a fictitious production studio and two African-American women in the film industry: Ester Jeeter, a singer who lends her voice to a white actress, and Mignon Dupree, a studio executive who appears to be white. Dash's film explores the struggles of these women to be recognized for who they are in the white-dominated Hollywood studio system of 1942, an industry that thrives on the art of illusion in every respect. Marcia Pally of the Village Voice praises, "[Illusions] cleverly uses film itself as a metaphor for the myths fostered by whites and men about Blacks and women." ~ Carrie Downes, All Movie Guide
