A dance of hope and healing

The Netflix film Daughters’ documents a winning initiative that reunites men in jail with their progeny. We were all crying, the two filmmakers reveal to Lydia Spencer-Elliott

- Lydia Spencer-Elliott

A group of girls in Washington DC are ready for prom. Hair is perfectly blown out and braided. Outfits are a blur of lace, sequin and tulle. And, on the other side of a series of locked doors at a capital correctional facility, are their dates: their fathers, many of whom they’ve not seen since the day they went to prison.

This is a scene from Daughters, a gut-punch of a Netflix documentary that follows four girls and their imprisoned fathers as they prepare for a daddy-daughter dance. At the Sundance Film Festival in January, the film won two audience awards, and is widely tipped for an Oscar nomination in 2025. “It’s a refreshing story about Black girls and their resilience,” says Angela Patton, the film’s co-director.

Patton runs Camp Diva Leadership Academy in Richmond, Virginia, a six week summer camp for Black girls designed to build sisterhood and self-esteem, along with a nonprofit called Girls for a Change. Her Date with Dad programme began in 2008, with girls and their fathers invited to attend an evening of food, dancing, comedy and activities to help them bond. The events are designed to look like any other prom-type affair: there is music, there are party dresses, plenty of unchoreographed dance moves. But, early on, it became clear that those with fathers behind bars felt left out. So some of the girls wrote to a state sheriff and asked to host one of the parties in jail. He said yes. “These girls just needed a way to invite their fathers into their lives on their own terms,” Patton says.

Filmmaker Natalie Rae found out about Patton’s work in 2012 and immediately approached her to make a documentary. “I thought it was one of the most inspiring, powerful, examples of what could happen when young women lead and we listen to their voices,” Rae says. “They’re fearless and they know how to use forgiveness, which is one of the hardest things as adults we tend to avoid.”