Daughters

This documentary is so important! It is so important for a lot of people to see, especially for those who live in America. I hope all the dads in this documentary have a close relationship with their daughters no matter happens. I hope more and more jails and prisons have this dance and that more and more change happens with these families. It was so emotional and beautiful to see these daughters with their fathers. I really hope good things and good seasons and good times happen for these families and protection and safety for them as well. So many people need to see to see what so many black men go through and black families go through.

This is a VERY raw look at a program designed for fathers to get to have a dance date with their daughters while incarcerated. There's no skimping the rough parts that are the realities that come with both the young children getting this rare opportunity and that aren't easy for them emotionally. Neither is it a field day for the men who aren't just some "hardened criminal" behind bars. They are men who truly understand what they're missing, as well as the harms from their actions, to their daughters. It's also a moving, up close, personal experience for us to share these precious moments with them. The "roller coaster" as they stated. If you are in touch with your human side, the side that makes mistakes, or the parent that you may be, then you may be like me... crying through most parts of this documentary. It's unlike most prison documentaries. It's one about the families on the inside and the other side of the barbed wire fence. What power those constraints hold. Oh! And the youngest daughter and her father are two of the most beautiful people highlighted during this story.

Real, raw, and emotional. You could feel the genuine desire to become better from the fathers for their daughters. I loved the pure, unfiltered, and honest views from both the the fathers and daughters. I loved the soundtrack. I shed tears of joy and sadness because at the end of the day, we all need that unconditional love. I also enjoyed seeing the girls grow and point of view change. The passion from the mentors was beautiful, it was uplifting and you could tell it helped improve their self esteem and confidence. The documentary was beautifully produced and directed. I also applaud the family's for being vulnerable and honest. Beautiful. Ps. Have some tissues nearby.

I watched this film with my dad after seeing the trailer because I thought that it would be an awfully wholesome but touching film. Turns out, that it was gut-wrenching and so sad yet happy. During the last few minutes of the movie my father hugged me while we watched the movie. Honestly, that simple action made me cry even more as the story delved into the aftermath of the Dad and Daughter dance. Everything from the cinematography, dialogue, and use of music and sounds made me cry. I think the most touching of the kids was Aubrey. The simple dialogue of her father telling her that she's either going to see him when she's twelve or thirteen is heartbreaking. She keeps saying twelve until they agree on that age. It hurts even more after the movie ends when it says that his sentence ended up being ten years. I truly believe that this is one of the most emotionally painful movies of this year, and that it's one of the best documentaries that I've ever watched. I absolutely recommend this movie to whoever wants to ask me. Though, I do have to mention that it will leave you in tears from the get go.

Attended this screening last minute at the Hot Docs Film Festival and so glad I did. This is a must watch documentary to see the father-daughter dance program at a prison in DC. Witness the unraveling emotions before, during & after the dance and how such a night was a life changing moment for inmates experiencing a glimpse of fatherhood for a moment in time. The effects of incarceration is sentimentally portrayed through families dealing with visitation limitations and the diminishing intimacy daughters have with their fathers behind bars as they progress through childhood. This dance program being implemented in prisons across America has been proven to drastically reduce reincarnation rates of inmates and this emotional documentary shows why.

Not like any other prison documentaries I have ever seen. I liked how you got to see how being in prison impacts not just the incarcerated but the impact on the children and families. How decisions made by the prison industrial complex doesn't take into the account the importance of physical connection between parent and child when it comes to visitations. The most adorable, articulate little girl demonstrated the palpable gapping wound of an absentee incarcerated parent and the affects over time and the importance of dad daughter dance programs as one of the girls went from this hardened 10 year old to being sweet and innocent again once her father got out. Clearly this program taught those men the impact of their decisions, which can be a cruel if you have a 10 year or life sentence as what are going to do about that? How can you keep a bond with children that you can't touch as you talk to them through a video? I felt such raw emotion for those children. So painful to watch but definitely a must watch as opens your eyes.

You know when you haven't cried in a long time, and you get that sort of frog in your throat? You will cry. I don't think I've seen so much sincere expression of emotion in any movie, which was cathartic for me. I am crying right now thinking about it. Sundance 2024 was a good festival for authentic, heartfelt stories like this, with "Look into my Eyes" coming in second (also highly recommended). Daughters is the true life "aftersun", all true stories of girls who are growing up separated from their dads. It was so, so well done. Made me think I should call my dad. Walked into the freshmarket after having this thought and "call me maybe" was playing. Maybe I will call him. Idk what else to say. This should absolutely win an Oscar.

Watched this at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. "Daughters" won the Audience Awards for Festival Favorite and U. S. Documentary which is well-deserved because the documentary is a great exploration of how prison is horrifying, the connections between fathers and daughters who are separated because of prison, and the challenging both sides are able to encounter. With strong visual presentation, discussions, and insightful conversations, filmmakers Angela Patton and Natalie Rae were able to create a profound and meaningful documentary and the themes and concepts that were explored are well-executed. Each moments that were handled felt genuine and I did get emotional when watching this one. Overall, it's one experience to witness especially for parents and families.

Beware of when watching, your tears will want to flow no matter how hard you try to fight. A touching debut documentary from Angela Patton and Natalie Rae, Daughters is a showcase of the surplus of emotions the Date With Dad program brings to these young girls' lives. At times the film feels like it battles its own structure, leaving a questionable trail of decisions that made me think it would diminish what came before, however, such was not the case. Small decisions like shooting the dance on film made the experience more tangible and effective, ensuring the heart of the documentary never withers away.

I was incredibly moved by this film. I happened upon it on a streaming service. From the beginning it was beautiful and heartbreaking. The first moment I cried is when I saw the love and anxiety and fear in the father's faces when they talked about seeing their daughters again. Holding them, connecting with them. I entirely lost it when the girls were walking down the hallway, finding their fathers one by one and seeing the tears on the men's faces. And to be completely honest, I also feel this sense of shame and anger as a white person. WE created this problem. We put BIPOC people in this predicament over 200 years ago and kept them there. Shackling them to a way of living that is normalized in many African American communities. We white people and our fathers and their fathers before us have kept pulling black men and women down every time they try and take a step up. We give many of these black communities a ladder to climb to higher spaces in society and say "look, we believe in equal rights and opportunity"...but then rip it out beneath them the moment they try. If every time you tried to keep climbing up the ladder to benefit yourself and those around you and society kept pushing you off, eventually it's all you know and you eventually just stop reaching. It's what their parents knew, their grandparents, their great-grandparents and all their ancestors before them. In so many BIPOC communities, ending up in jail and prison is just a part of life. But it shouldn't be normalized. We have to correct this problem somehow. We have to fight for better education for children, free mental and physical healthcare, free access to adult education, more programs that provide lower prices and interest for new and better homes and neighborhoods, more community centers, higher education and opportunities in the prison systems, a better appreciation and celebration of their culture and diversity and to completely uproot the justice system altogether and fix it. The system is rigged on purpose and the white community isn't doing enough to fight back. We don't do enough to support black-owned businesses. We don't lift up the BIPOC individuals that are fighting to better themselves and their communities. All of this knowledge running through my heart as I watch these fathers with their daughters, really pulled at my soul and cracked it. We have to do more. We have to be more. Period.