Julie Dash

Julie Dash is a pioneering filmmaker, best known for her groundbreaking work in the independent film world and her significant contributions to African American cinema. Born in Queens, New York, Dash rose to prominence in the 1990s as one of the leading voices of the "L.A. Rebellion" film movement, which focused on telling the stories of Black communities through a more authentic, nuanced lens.

Her most acclaimed movie, "Daughters of the Dust," became the first feature-length film directed by an African American woman to receive a general theatrical release in the United States. Set in 1902, the film is a poetic and visually stunning portrayal of Gullah women living on the Sea Islands off the coast of South Carolina. It's unique narrative structure and its exploration of African heritage, migration, and memory made it a landmark in independent cinema. "Daughters of the Dust" was later added to the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress for its cultural, historical, and aesthetic significance. Stemming from the film's success, Dash also released novels of the same title in 1992 and 1999. The film was later a key inspiration for Beyoncé's 2016 album Lemonade.

Her short film, "Illusions," depicting the life of an African American woman passing as a white woman in the 1940s, was also added to the National Film Registry in 2020.

Dash's work extends beyond feature films, as she has directed multiple documentaries, music videos, and television projects, including OWN's "Queen Sugar," "The Rosa Parks Story" with Angela Bassett, and "Reasonable Doubt" with Kerry Washington. Her work includes museum and theme park exhibits and design for Disney’s Imagineering, Brothers of the Borderland for The National Underground Railroad Freedom Center Museum, and Smuggling Daydreams into Reality the Indianapolis Museum of Art. More recent museum installations include Standing at The Scratch Line at the Philadelphia Museum of African American History and Shine a Light, a large-scale video mapping projection for the Charles H. Wright Museum in Detroit.

In 2022, Dash was presented with Joseph R. Biden’s President’s Lifetime Achievement Award for a lifelong commitment to building a stronger nation through volunteer service. She is also the recipient of the Special Award at the 82nd New York Film Critics Circle; the 2017 Women & Hollywood Trailblazer Award; the 2017 New York Women in Film & Television MUSE Award; The Ebert Award; and she was inducted into the Penn Cultural Center’s 1862 Circle on St. Helena Island.

A noted scholar and educator, Dash's visionary approach to storytelling has influenced a new generation of filmmakers, especially in the realm of African American women's narratives. She is the Diana King Endowed Professor in the Department of Art & Visual Culture at Spelman College. She is also a Time-Warner Visiting Professor at Howard University and a Distinguished Professor Cinema Television and Emerging Media Studies at Morehouse College.

Dash earned her MFA in Film & Television Production at University of California at Los Angeles; received her BA in Film Production from City College of New York, and she was a Producing and Writing Conservatory Fellow at AFI, the American Film Institute’s Center for Advanced Film Studies.