Actress Kerry Washington and rapper Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter are two of the executive producers for the Sundance documentary, Daughters.
The film directed by Angela Patton and Natalie Rae focuses on four young girls as they prepare “for a special Daddy Daughter Dance with their incarcerated fathers, as part of a unique fatherhood program in a Washington, D.C., jail.”
“A moving lesson in empathy and forgiveness, Daughters is a result of an eight-year documentary journey that filmmaker Natalie Rae and Angela Patton, an activist advocating for ‘at-promise’ girls, embarked upon,” notes the Sundance program. “As Aubrey, Santana, Raziah, and Ja’Ana get ready for the special event, they speak candidly about their hopes, dreams, and disappointments. There is an innate wisdom and honesty to what they share about their dads’ inconsistent presence; an awareness far beyond their years.”
“I do caution everyone to keep some tissue close by”
In a statement, Washington mentioned that the film is a visual showcase for why daughters needs their incarcerated fathers.
“This film does such a beautiful job of bridging the idea that fathers need their daughters and daughters need their fathers, and this unjust system that we call the criminal justice system, that it really separates families and tears them apart and treats these folks as if they’re not human, that they don’t get to touch each other, they don’t get to be in community. And the film is about the need for us to pause these systems and treat each other like humans.”
Similarly Black Thought shared that films subject hits close to home. “It pains me to be so familiar with the subject matter of this documentary; however, we must shed light in order to find some resolve, The Roots member wrote. “I urge you all to watch. I do caution everyone to keep some tissue close by because it will hit close to home for a lot of us, regardless of color.”
Producers of the film are Lisa Mazzotta, Justin Benoliel, Sam Bisbee, Kathryn Everett, Mindy Goldberg, Laura Choi Raycroft, and James Cunningham. In addition to Washington, Edgerton, and Seinfeld, the executive producers include Lydia Kives, Jackie Bisbee, Lance Acord, Harland Weiss, Dom Thomas, J.M. Harper, Morgan Clement, and Hallee Adelman.
Daughters is available to watch now on Netflix.