A Netflix documentary shows incarcerated fathers and daughters reuniting at a father-daughter dance.
Park City, Utah (AP) Angela Patton has spent her career listening to the needs of young girls. Over a decade ago, the CEO of the NGO Girls For a Change and the founder of Camp Diva Leadership Academy helped launch a program in Richmond, Virginia, that developed a daddy-daughter dance for girls whose fathers are in jail. However, she did not come up with the “Date With Dad” notion. It came from a 12-year-old Black female.
The success of a 2012 TEDWomen lecture about the program, which has been seen over one million times, prompted numerous filmmakers to portray the story. But she didn’t believe anyone was correct until Natalie Rae came along.
“Natalie actually made the effort and put the energy into coming to visit with me, to meet the families that I have previously worked with, and just to learn and be a willing participant,” Patton told The Associated Press at the Sundance Film Festival in January.
The two began an eight-year odyssey as co-directors to create the documentary “Daughters,” which follows four young girls as they prepare to reconcile with their fathers for a dance in Washington.
D.C. Jail. The Sundance Prize-winning film, executive produced by Kerry Washington, will be available to stream on Netflix on Wednesday.
With personal moments inside the girls’ homes and glimpses inside the fathers’ previous intensive 12-week treatment session, “Daughters” portrays a compelling and complicated portrayal of damaged relationships and healing.
“It was just one of the most powerful stories I had ever come across,” Rae told me. “For me, it was a great illustration of how listening to young women’s insight can lead to positive change in the world. This is a young Black girl’s notion, and she knew just what she and her father required.”
In the same vein, the two filmmakers decided that they wanted “Daughters” to be told from the girls’ perspective.
“I am always an advocate for them,” Patton explained. “I hear them say, ‘My dad is important to me, but I’m really upset with him right now.'” Or, ‘My father is amazing, and someone else is trying to tell me he isn’t, and I don’t want you to perceive him as a bad man because he made a wrong decision. “But he still loves me.” I’m hearing about all of these lived experiences from numerous girls in the neighborhood. I’d like to see how we might aid them.”
Though Patton has worked with Black families in Washington and Richmond for many years, the film required a higher level of trust in establishing close relationships with the girls and their mothers, asking what they needed and were comfortable with, and knowing when to turn the cameras on and off.
“You need to get to know the families. I recognize that in order to gain trust in the community, I must collaborate with them,” Patton added. “I’ve been doing it for more than twenty years. I’ve developed a reputation, and they call me Sister Angela. ‘She’s got our back. “She is going to protect us.”
Rae was a neophyte to this world, but Patton said her co-director “took it to the next level” by getting to know their subjects and gaining their trust.
“These are really lifetime relationships,” Rae told me. “Most of the time, we are not filming. It’s going and spending time being invited to see someone at the hospital or attending a birthday party. Aubrey (one of the subjects) and I prepared her father’s birthday cake one year and got to talk to him on the phone, just telling him how it looked.”
Some are describing “Daughters” as a “three-tissue” film that will undoubtedly tug at the heartstrings. The producers believe that it will also serve as a catalyst for change, providing a powerful illustration of the necessity of visits where girls can hug their fathers.
“We really want to show the impact on families and daughters from this system and incarcerated fathers and bring more awareness around the importance around touch visits and family connection,” Rae told me.
Patton continued, “I believe there are so many things to take away because it is a film that simply fills your spirit. You cannot leave without feeling compelled to do something, even if it is as simple as dialing your father’s number and saying, ‘I love you, dad.'”
