I regularly teach Daughters of the Dust, both in an
introduction to film course and in a course on contemporary
African-American cinema. I don't know what course you are
using it for, but timing is the key.
I find it best to save it for the end of the semester, when
students have a good grounding in film form and aesthetics.
Also, if some difficult films are screened earlier (i.e.
avante garde or modernist) they are more likely to work at
reading the text.
I usually don't have a problem with students understanding
the dialogue. Yes, they may have a problem at first, but
they usually fall into the rhythm of the speech very
quickly.
There is quite a lot of literature out there about the film.
I would consider the book written by Julie Dash herself,
Jackie Bobo's Black Women as Spectators, and Gloria Gibson's
article "The Ties that Bind" published in the Quarterly
Review of Film and Video, v15 #2. There is also a new book
out called Women Filmmakers of the African and Asian
Diaspora.
But don't worry about the students so much. If popular
audiences could handle it, I am sure film students will do
fine.
Frances Gateward
gateward@uiuc.edu
In-Reply-To: 199708181610.JAA02744@abraham.xc.org