Sundance 2024 Review: “Daughters” – A Powerful Documentary!

Girls for a Change is an organization created by CEO Angela Patton “to prepare Black girls for the world and the world for Black Girls.” One of the programs developed by Girls for a Change is “Date With Dad,” the ability for Black girls with incarcerated fathers the ability to participate in a daddy-daughter dance that allows them to reconnect and reconcile.

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Angela Patton and filmmaker Natalie Rose have developed a documentary following a handful of girls’ stories and the aftermath of having their fathers in prison and the effect it has on their lives. Over the course of ten weeks, the prisoners participate in a program preparing them for the event and outlining the importance of fatherhood, regardless of sentencing time. Daughters is an emotionally affecting documentary that touches on incarceration in the USA and the impact it has on families and the community at large.

Through the exploration of these girls’ lives, it becomes evident the similarities between the youngest and oldest girls who have fathers in prison. The youngest, Aubrey, age five, wishes everyday that she could see her father, never giving up the unconditional love that a child feels for a parent. Although she understands her father will be away for many years, it is evident that the magnitude of why and the choices her father has made is a little lost on her, thus furthering this positive picture in her mind she still has of her father. No matter what she forgives him for whatever he may have done.

Similarly Raziah, age fifteen, has been forced to grow and mature faster than any child should have to. As a result, her level of maturity allows her to come to terms with how important our parents are no matter what, something a lot of us do not come to terms with until we are in our mid 20s. When the dance happens, Patton and Rose display the immense joy Aubrey and Raziah have seeing their fathers for the first time in years and making sure not to waste even a minute.

Santana, age 10, has visible anger and frustration towards her father for abandoning her and her family, verbally explaining how he continues to make the same mistakes, leaving his family vulnerable in the world. The night of the dance, the audience sees some sweet moments between Santana and her father but it is evident her frustration does not dissipate. This analysis in the documentary furthers the idea of the young, middle, and older ages of the girls playing a part in their “coming of age” process and how not having a father greatly affects it.

The filmmakers always make the audience aware that this is the girls’ stories. As a result, the power and strength young women and mothers possess is never lost. The mothers and wives of the incarcerated men are examined, having to continue on with life raising young Black Women in an unforgiving and judgemental society all while maintaining their own sense of normalcy and mental health.

As Daughters progresses the audience begins to see the strength these women have not only to raise their daughters but put their own disappointment and marital struggles aside to allow their daughters to form a connection with their fathers. The ability to see the importance of the family unit outside of their own anger is an unprecedented sort of perseverance displayed by these incredible mothers.

The power of Angela Patton to create this organization, the mothers for their immense work, and their daughters to grapple with their own emotions in a healthy way cinematically is a rarity, seeing real women and the capabilities they possess.

Lastly, even though the documentary is about the girls, one of the most powerful drives of the film is the essential nature of having a father in any child’s life. Single women have raised children on their own for centuries and many have done it incredibly. However, it is undeniable the positive impact fathers can have in a girl’s life when they put their best foot forward. Obviously, the men in Daughters are in prison and can not be physically there for their girls. However, what the program they participate in shows is that fatherhood does not stop when one is away from a child.

Fatherhood is a never ending job and preparing to be reunited with family and to take on a more responsible fatherly role is what the program is trying to prepare these men for. It hits home the way the documentary puts the camera in front of all of these people and all of these themes transpire before our eyes in an authentic way. Daughters is a must see documentary that will be discussed for years to come.

‘Daughters’ Rating – 4/5

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