IAAM to host a conversation with award-winning filmmaker Julie Dash

Event will celebrate Women’s History Month

In honor of Women’s History Month, the International African American Museum (IAAM) will host a conversation with award-winning filmmaker Julie Dash, on March 21 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. The program will be take place at IAAM, located at 14 Wharfside Street, with a reception to follow.

Dash is the first African American woman to experience a wide theatrical release of her work. Her film Daughters of the Dust won the Best Cinematography Award at the Sundance Film Festival, and this film, along with her UCLA MFA senior thesis Illusions, have been placed in the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. In addition to film, Dash has directed several television movies and shows over the years. In 2022, she was presented with Joseph R. Biden’s President’s Lifetime Achievement Award.

“Julie Dash is the one of the most important filmmakers of our time. Her film, Daughters of the Dust, introduced many in this country and the world to Gullah Geechee culture and to complex African American family narratives that centered Black women and Black humanity. We are so proud to be hosting her at IAAM and all the more as we’re the home of the short film, Seeking, running in a loop in our theater, for which Dash served as both writer and producer,” noted Malika Pryor, chief learning and engagement officer at IAAM.

Julie Dash is the Diana King Endowed Professor in the Department of Art & Visual Culture at Spelman College. She played an instrumental role in the L.A. Rebellion, a film movement sparked by the first African American students who studied film at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), whereby she created experimental films that pushed past racial and gender boundaries. In her work, Dash has focused intently on the struggles that Black women face.

Registration for the event is free available online here.

The International African American Museum (IAAM) explores the history, culture, and impact of the African American journey on Charleston, the nation, and the world, shining light and sharing stories of the diverse journeys, origin, and achievements of descendants of the African Diaspora. Across eleven galleries and a memorial garden with art, objects, artifacts, and multi-media interaction, IAAM is a champion of authentic, empathetic storytelling of American history. As a result, the museum will stand as one of the nation’s newest platforms for the disruption of institutionalized racism as it evolves today. The mission of IAAM is to honor the untold stories of the African American journey at the historically sacred site of Gadsden’s Wharf and beyond. For more information, please visit iaamuseum.org or call 843-872-5352.