Daughters of the Dust was shot on St. Helena Island near Beaufort, about an hour from Hilton Head. The island is still the heart of Gullah Geechee life.
Daughters of the Dust, written and directed by Julie Dash and released in 1991, is set in 1902 on a Sea Island where three generations of a Gullah family are about to leave for the mainland. Dash shot it on St. Helena Island, across the water from Beaufort. It was the first feature film by an African American woman to get a general theatrical release in the United States, and it was added to the National Film Registry in 2004.
St. Helena is a Sea Island of oaks, marsh, creeks and farmland east of Beaufort, reached by road over the Beaufort River. It is one of the places where Gullah Geechee language, food and craft have continued. The filmmakers worked on location with limited equipment, and the look of the film is natural light on beach, marsh and yard. Our Gullah Geechee culture page covers what to see and do there.
About 40 miles, an hour from central Hilton Head.
Penn Center began as the Penn School in 1862, one of the first schools for formerly enslaved people, and it is now a historic landmark district with a museum. It is not a film location, but it is the best place on the island to understand the community the film portrays. Check its hours before you go.
About 40 miles, an hour.
The story follows the Peazant family on the eve of the move north, with Nana Peazant holding on to the family’s African traditions. Arthur Jafa shot it. It was restored and re-released in theaters in 2016.
Cora Lee Day
Nana Peazant
Alva Rogers
Eula Peazant
Barbara-O
Yellow Mary
Kaycee Moore
Haagar Peazant
St. Helena pairs well with a morning in Beaufort. It is also home to the burial place of Pat Conroy; his Beaufort is on our Pat Conroy page. For the other films shot around here, see movies filmed in Beaufort, SC.
Gullah Geechee culture on Hilton Head: who the Gullah people are, their language and food, the Gullah Museum, Mitchelville, and Gullah heritage tours.
Movies filmed in Beaufort, SC and the Lowcountry: Forrest Gump, The Great Santini, The Prince of Tides and more, plus a day trip from Hilton Head.
Pat Conroy's Beaufort: the Pat Conroy Literary Center, his books and the films made from them, Daufuskie, his grave and the drive from Hilton Head.
Hilton Head to Beaufort is under an hour: the drive, the waterfront, carriage tours, Penn Center, Old Sheldon Church and Hunting Island.
On St. Helena Island, a Sea Island near Beaufort, South Carolina, about an hour’s drive from Hilton Head.
Julie Dash wrote and directed it. Released in 1991, it was the first feature by an African American woman to get a general theatrical release in the United States, and Arthur Jafa shot it.
A Gullah family gathers on a Sea Island in 1902 before some of them leave for the mainland. It is about memory, family and holding on to African traditions.
You can visit St. Helena Island and its Gullah Geechee sites, including Penn Center. The page does not list individual shooting spots, because the sources do not name them.
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