The cast includes Cora Lee Day, Alva Rogers, Barbara-O, Trula Hoosier, Vertamae Grosvenor, and Kaycee Moore.

[3] Daughters of the Dust was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in 2004, being deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.

Haagar, a cousin, finds the old spiritual beliefs and provincialism of the island to be "backwards" and is eager to leave for a more modern society with educational and economic opportunities.

As the women prepare a traditional feast, including okra, yams, and shellfish cooked on the beach, the men gather in groups nearby to talk and play games.

Bilal Muhammad, a cousin believed to be of Ibo descent but hailing from the French West Indies, leads a Muslim prayer.

Originally conceived in 1975, Dash planned to make a short film with no dialogue as a visual account of a Gullah family's preparation to leave their Sea Island home to a new life in the North.

[9] As the story developed for more than 10 years, Dash clarified her artistic vision and together with Arthur Jafa, her cinematographer and co-producer, she put together a short film to use for marketing.

Ronald Daise, author of Reminiscences of Sea Island Heritage (1987), was the dialect coach for her actors, none of whom knew Gullah at the start of production.

During production, Ferrell worked very close with Julie Dash to help provide creative details needed for the vision and style of every scene in the movie.

[16] The soundtrack was composed by John Barnes, featuring a blend of Synclavier percussion with traditional instruments, including the Middle Eastern santour, and African bata and talking drums.

[17] Daughters of the Dust screened at the 1991 Sundance Film Festival where it was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize and won the Excellence in Cinematography Award.

The site's consensus reads: "Daughters of the Dust addresses its weighty themes with lovely visuals and a light, poetic touch, offering an original, absorbing look at a largely unexplored corner of American culture".

Critic Stephen Holden said the individual stories in the film formed a "broad weave in which the fabric of daily life, from food preparation to ritualized remembrance, is ultimately more significant than any of the psychological conflicts that surface."

He called the Daughters of the Dust a tone-poem about emotions rather than telling a conventional narrative, and said while made on a small budget "it doesn't feel cheap" due to excellent use of cinematography, wardrobe and music.

He also highlighted the screenplay's Gullah dialect: "The fact that some of the dialogue is deliberately difficult is not frustrating, but comforting; we relax like children at a family picnic, not understanding everything, but feeling at home with the expression of it.

"[23] In 2022, Daughters of the Dust was named at number 60 in the Sight & Sound Greatest Films of All Time list selected by critics and published every 10 years since 1952.

[24] Upon its 2016 re-release, The Village Voice review commended the film's "stunning motifs and tableaux, the iconography seemingly sourced from dreams as much as from history and folklore.

"[25] The Guardian critic Peter Bradshaw called the film "mysterious, fabular and sometimes dreamlike," comparing it to Chekhov or a performance of Shakespeare's Tempest.

She concluded industry executives were put off by the film's unconventional form, stating in 2007: "Hollywood and mainstream television are still not quite open to what I have to offer.

"[28] For its 25th anniversary, the Cohen Media Group restored Daughters of the Dust for a screening at the 2016 Toronto Film Festival and a theatrical release.

Beyoncé's modern take featured young women, some in long white dresses, walking toward a beach or settled on the front porch of a rustic island cabin.