PARK CITY, Utah (AP) — Angela Patton has devoted her career to listening to the needs of young girls. Over a decade ago, the CEO of the nonprofit Girls For a Change and founder of Camp Diva Leadership Academy helped start a program in Richmond, Virginia, that created a daddy daughter dance for girls whose fathers are in prison. The “Date With Dad” idea wasn’t hers, however. It came from a 12-year-old Black girl.
The popularity of a 2012 TEDWomen talk about the initiative, which has been viewed over 1 million times, had many filmmakers clamoring to tell the story. But she didn’t feel anyone was right until Natalie Rae came along.
“Natalie actually made the effort and put the energy in to come to visit with me, to meet the families that I have worked with in the past, and just to learn and be a willing participant,” Patton told The Associated Press in a recent interview.
The two began an eight-year journey as co-directors to make the documentary “Daughters,” which follows four young girls as they prepare to reunite with their fathers for a dance in a Washington, D.C., jail.