Daughters

This documentary is so important! It is so important for a lot of people to see, especially for those who live in America. I hope all the dads in this documentary have a close relationship with their daughters no matter happens. I hope more and more jails and prisons have this dance and that more and more change happens with these families. It was so emotional and beautiful to see these daughters with their fathers. I really hope good things and good seasons and good times happen for these families and protection and safety for them as well. So many people need to see to see what so many black men go through and black families go through.

I was incredibly moved by this film. I happened upon it on a streaming service. From the beginning it was beautiful and heartbreaking. The first moment I cried is when I saw the love and anxiety and fear in the father's faces when they talked about seeing their daughters again. Holding them, connecting with them. I entirely lost it when the girls were walking down the hallway, finding their fathers one by one and seeing the tears on the men's faces.

And to be completely honest, I also feel this sense of shame and anger as a white person. WE created this problem. We put BIPOC people in this predicament over 200 years ago and kept them there. Shackling them to a way of living that is normalized in many African American communities. We white people and our fathers and their fathers before us have kept pulling black men and women down every time they try and take a step up.

We give many of these black communities a ladder to climb to higher spaces in society and say "look, we believe in equal rights and opportunity"...but then rip it out beneath them the moment they try. If every time you tried to keep climbing up the ladder to benefit yourself and those around you and society kept pushing you off, eventually it's all you know and you eventually just stop reaching. It's what their parents knew, their grandparents, their great-grandparents and all their ancestors before them.

In so many BIPOC communities, ending up in jail and prison is just a part of life. But it shouldn't be normalized. We have to correct this problem somehow. We have to fight for better education for children, free mental and physical healthcare, free access to adult education, more programs that provide lower prices and interest for new and better homes and neighborhoods, more community centers, higher education and opportunities in the prison systems, a better appreciation and celebration of their culture and diversity and to completely uproot the justice system altogether and fix it.

The system is rigged on purpose and the white community isn't doing enough to fight back. We don't do enough to support black-owned businesses. We don't lift up the BIPOC individuals that are fighting to better themselves and their communities. All of this knowledge running through my heart as I watch these fathers with their daughters, really pulled at my soul and cracked it.

We have to do more. We have to be more. Period.

You know when you haven't cried in a long time, and you get that sort of frog in your throat? You will cry. I don't think I've seen so much sincere expression of emotion in any movie, which was cathartic for me. I am crying right now thinking about it. Sundance 2024 was a good festival for authentic, heartfelt stories like this, with "Look into my Eyes" coming in second (also highly recommended).

Daughters is the true life "aftersun", all true stories of girls who are growing up separated from their dads. It was so, so well done.

Made me think I should call my dad. Walked into the freshmarket after having this thought and "call me maybe" was playing. Maybe I will call him. Idk what else to say.

This should absolutely win an Oscar.

Attended this screening last minute at the Hot Docs Film Festival and so glad I did.

This is a must watch documentary to see the father-daughter dance program at a prison in DC. Witness the unraveling emotions before, during & after the dance and how such a night was a life changing moment for inmates experiencing a glimpse of fatherhood for a moment in time. The effects of incarceration is sentimentally portrayed through families dealing with visitation limitations and the diminishing intimacy daughters have with their fathers behind bars as they progress through childhood.

This dance program being implemented in prisons across America has been proven to drastically reduce reincarnation rates of inmates and this emotional documentary shows why.

Real, raw, and emotional. You could feel the genuine desire to become better from the fathers for their daughters. I loved the pure, unfiltered, and honest views from both the the fathers and daughters. I loved the soundtrack. I shed tears of joy and sadness because at the end of the day, we all need that unconditional love. I also enjoyed seeing the girls grow and point of view change. The passion from the mentors was beautiful, it was uplifting and you could tell it helped improve their self esteem and confidence. The documentary was beautifully produced and directed. I also applaud the family's for being vulnerable and honest. Beautiful. Ps. Have some tissues nearby.