Pushkin. I want to. I want to produce films because I know I'm at a certain point I'm going to be too

old to be out there on the field trying to direct something so I want to produce.

I want to produce, I want to discover other young introverts who are creative and they need

someone to help shepherd them along,

to quarterback for them, to get them through

and pass these gatekeepers who are only looking

for people to tell stories that they've already told before, these retreaded stories,

because there's a whole generation, there's a whole bunch of us that just like to be surprised,

to be confused, and to come out the other side of that confusion, feeling like they

have taken a long journey.

That was Julie Dash. I'm Sam Fricoso and this is Talk Easy.

Welcome to the show. Oh, In 1991, Director Julie Dash broke some serious ground with daughters of the dust.

It was not merely a phenomenal film, but also the first movie directed by a black woman

to get a wide theatrical release.

Stating that fact out loud seems so bizarre in 2018.

And it's not because we've made so much progress in the intervening 27 years, but because we clearly haven't made enough.

Daughters of the Dust has since been cemented as a historic moment in cinema history.

It's a landmark movie not only because of its quality

but because of what Dash did to pave the way for future filmmakers of color, for

future women filmmakers. And yet, what is not part of the conversation about Julie Dash and daughters of the dust

is that after this movie came out, the situation for her did not radically change. She didn't get to direct a studio movie.

HBO did not offer her a series.

...