Kerry Washington on producing Sundance favorite ‘Daughters,’ being drawn to stories that center ‘people society often ignores’
The documentary earned two awards at this year's Sundance Film Festival, with Netflix reportedly finalizing a distribution deal.
Kerry Washington is opening up about her latest projects. The actress’ latest role is that of executive producer for the documentary “Daughters,” which premiered at Sundance Film Festival this month to rave reviews.
“People always ask me why I’m drawn to political work,” Washington said at the Variety Studio presented by Audible when discussing joining the doc at the fest. “I’m not drawn to political work. It’s just I am a woman, and I am a Black person.”
“In this body,” she said, “when I center stories about me or stories that star people that look like me, it’s considered political because the world wants to push us out into the margins, and we all deserve to be at the center of our lives.”
“Daughters” comes courtesy of directors Natalie Rae and Angela Patton, and highlights incarcerated fathers as they work toward a daddy-daughter dance with their children, organized by Girls for a Change’s “Date with Dad” program. The film, which earned both the overall festival favorite prize and the audience award for documentary at Sundance, follows four pairs of daughters and fathers participating in the initiative.
“A story like this that centers people that society often ignores — incarcerated fathers and young Black woman — that’s so important to us,” Washington told Variety Studio, saying that they hope to pull “people away from the margins and into the center so we know our stories matter.”
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This subject matter is not foreign to Washington both behind the cameras and as their focus: She currently stars in the Hulu series “UnPrisoned,” where she plays a daughter reunited with her formerly incarcerated father, as theGrio previously reported.
According to Variety, Netflix is closing a distribution deal for the film. With three companies reportedly circling “Daughters” to get it in front of their audiences, the deal is said to be in the “seven-figure” range. It currently stands at 100 percent “fresh” on Rotten Tomatoes.
Enjoy our dual review of “Daughters” and another Sundance selection, “Exhibiting Forgiveness,” here.
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