On Cinematography: Arthur Jafa & Bradford Young

Director: Julie Dash

1991 / 112min / DCP

Dash’s debut feature became the first American film directed by an African American woman to receive a general theatrical release in 1991. However, her intricately constructed domestic drama, concerning an enclave living on the islands off the Georgia-South Carolina coast in 1902, would’ve secured a place in film history even if it didn’t represent such a breakthrough, thanks to its extraordinary ensemble cast, sensitive exploration of family tradition and spirituality, and the lush, almost dreamlike cinematography of Arthur Jafa. A film of rare, rhapsodic power and poetry.

“In conjunction with the New Museum’s exhibition I Am Tony, artist Arthur Jafa presents a screening of director Julie Dash’s award-winning Daughters of the Dust (1991), on which Jafa served as cinematographer. The screening will be followed by a conversation between Jafa and acclaimed fellow cinematographer Bradford Young, touching on Jafa’s work in filmmaking and the two artists’ shared engagement with image-making and Black visual culture.” —Thalia Stefaniuk, series co-curator and New Museum Curatorial Assistant

Distributor: Cohen Film Collection

Post-screening conversation with cinematographers Arthur Jafa and Bradford Young on Friday, December 4th

Part of New Museum Presents From Museum to Screen