Set to Nina Simone’s stirring ballad of the same name, Julie Dash’s dance film features Linda Martina Young as strong “Aunt Sarah,” tragic mulatto “Saffronia,” sensuous “Sweet Thing” and militant “Peaches.” Kinetic camerawork and editing, richly colored lighting, and meticulous costume, makeup and hair design work together with Young’s sensitive performance to turn longstanding Black female stereotypes to oblique, critical angles.
- Jacqueline Stewart, L.A. Rebellion: Creating a New Black Cinema Exhibit
"A dance film set to the music of Nina Simone; her breakthrough work."
- BAMcinematek
"Pioneering, provocative and visionary, the L.A. Rebellion films form a crucial body of work in post-war cinema… Julie Dash's dazzling film is both a critical response to female stereotypes and one of the most brilliantly released films about dance."
- George Clark, Tate Modern
"For young women of color working in personal forms of film and video, Julie Dash has become a model of how to reconcile emotions and narrative with cultural specificity."
- B. Ruby Rich, Sight and Sound Magazine
