Kerry Washington on How ‘Daughters’ Directors Angela Patton and Natalie Rae ‘Break Our Hearts Open’
On December 5, the IndieWire Honors Winter 2024 ceremony will celebrate the creators and stars responsible for crafting some of the year’s best films. Curated and selected by IndieWire’s editorial team, IndieWire Honors is a celebration of the filmmakers, artisans, and performers behind films well worth toastingIn the days leading up to the event, IndieWire is showcasing their work with new interviews and tributes from their peers.
Ahead, “Daughters” executive producer Kerry Washington tells IndieWire about the many qualities that set our Magnify Award winners Angela Patton and Natalie Rae apart — and what the film’s essential message of uplifting young Black girls meant to her.
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The Netflix-released documentary follows four girls as they prepare for a Daughter Daddy Dance with their fathers, who are incarcerated, as part of a groundbreaking program started by Patton at a Washington, D.C. jail. Kerry Washington signed on ahead of the film’s Sundance premiere. She executive produces through her Simpson Street banner, which is devoted to bringing socially conscious, inclusive stories of marginalized voices and communities to all audiences through film and TV.
Why She Signed onto ‘Daughters‘ as an Executive Producer
The executive producers reached out to me because they were inspired by the impact work that we’ve done at Simpson Street with projects like “American Son” and our documentary “The Fight” as well as the kinds of stories that we’re telling on shows like “Unprisoned” and “Reasonable Doubt.” When I heard about the project, I got to screen an unfinished cut and was floored. I knew immediately: “I have to be a part of this. I want to help this film. I want to help it find a home. I want to help bring eyeballs and attention to it.” At Sundance was the first time that I actually got to meet everyone, including the families from the film, in person. But I already felt like such a member of this creative family and was honored and excited to help shepherd the project.
What Inspired Her About Co-Directors Angela Patton and Natalie Rae
One of the things that I loved about how this came together was that it started with Angela’s powerful TED Talk about the father-daughter dances. Natalie reached out to Angela, and together they have created this masterpiece. Their sisterhood and partnership — in service to these girls — has been inspiring to witness. They share a joint commitment to center the girls and not make this a “prison story” or a story that was primarily about the dads and their experience in the system. “Daughters” puts the girls center stage. Natalie brings her filmmaker experience and Angela brings her lived wisdom as a changemaker. The result is tremendous. It feels like a marriage made in heaven.
How the Film’s Complex Approach to Parenthood Resonated with Her
The complexity that the filmmakers are willing to embrace — and the depth of complexity that they have gifted audiences with — allows us to grapple with the truth of how hard these situations are. We can’t tie a pretty bow around the end of the film because we can’t tie a pretty bow around the ongoing impact that the incarceration system has on families and on daughters in particular. All parental relationships are complex. I have not been immune from this truth — not many of us are. I wrote a memoir about this, “Thicker Than Water,” about my own complicated relationship with my dad and how we had to figure out how to exist in our own truth. In many ways, “Unprisoned” was a show about a father and daughter grappling with their connection and trying to wrangle what it means to love each other after re-entry and what it meant throughout their lives to love each other through plexiglass and bars. That yearning for connection between father and daughter is something that really drew me to the film, and it’s part of what is so special about how the film operates.
How Angela Patton’s Mission Is Inspiring Future Generations of Black Girls
Angela is such a phenom. What she’s doing through her organization, Girls for a Change, is so important and so special. Her heart is so in it. It has always been her mission to make sure that Black girls know that they matter — that we all know that we matter, but that Black girls in particular understand that they matter in a world where Black girls’ stories aren’t always held up in the most loving, respectful, celebratory way. I love that she says that her mission is to “prepare Black girls for the world but also to prepare the world for Black girls.” The attention that the film can bring to Girls for a Change and its mission while helping Angela to do the work she is doing is a fantastic opportunity.
What She’s Proudest About with ‘Daughters’
I love both of these filmmakers so much. Their ability to hold a mirror up to the culture and show us who we are is a real talent. One of the things I’m most proud of about the film is that Angela and Natalie are not afraid to break your hearts with this film, but that’s because they know that they are breaking our hearts open. They don’t break our hearts to devastate us and make us feel hopeless. They break our hearts open so they can make us feel more in touch with the love that is required to make positive change in society right now. It’s such an honor to be a witness to their success and to bring more visibility to the film and to Girls for a Change.
“Daughters” is now streaming on Netflix.
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