Subject Matter will award a grant of $25,000 to “Daughters” by Angela Patton and Natalie Rae. The documentary will have its world premiere in the U.S. documentary Competition at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. The nonprofit organization Girls For A Change, led by Patton, will also receive a $20,000 grant.
“The‘Daughters’documentary has been an 8-year journey, and every day of hard work and dedication has been worth it,” Patton said in a statement.
The grant from Subject Matter will help with the film reach more audiences. Per the release, “Daughters” tells the story of “four young girls as they prepare for a special Daddy Daughter Dance with their incarcerated fathers, as part of a unique fatherhood program in a Washington, D.C. jail.”
“The wisdom of these girls — a sense of healing for themselves that can transcend to their fathers, is at the core of this film. Whether they have known each other for their whole lives, are saying goodbye for 30 years, or meeting for the first time — the intuitive nature of these girls inspires us all. They remind us we have the ability to feel, heal, and forgive,” Rae said in a statement.
The Daddy Daughter Dance shown in the film is a program within Girls For A Change, which was created by Black girls to connect with their fathers on their own terms. The nonprofit’s programs aim to empower Black girls as leaders and catalysts for change by helping them understand their world, celebrate their identity and heritage, become advocates for their rights and discover connectivity through sisterhood while strengthening the connection to their community.
The Subject Matter grant will assist Girls For A Change in establishing an education fund for the girls in the film, providing resources for them to attend college with the goal of counteracting the impacts of mass incarceration on their childhoods.
