Daughters (2024)

I don't remember reading about this documentary before. Most likely, I added it to my list because it's set in my long-time hometown. And unlike most DC pics, it has nothing to do with the federal government. It's all residential Washington, albeit nowhere I recognize.

The Date With Dad program assembles girls whose fathers are all in the same jail and buses them there. Then they have something of a fancy ball for a few hours. This doc focuses on four dads and four daughters, the latter ranging from age five to the teens. We also get epilogues one and three years later.

All the fathers show affection to their daughters, but reactions vary by individual. A little resentment over past crimes is understandable. Fortunately, none of the girls love their dads any less in the end.

Nobody in the picture mentions race, but it's hard to ignore that all the convicts and relatives we see are at least part Black. From what I know of DC stats, that's not too surprising, but it's still disturbing, whether you take it as a sign of disproportionate criminality, uneven prosecution, or both. The only White people we see, apparently in chaperone roles, are in the background and say nothing. Some of the lines get subtitles for the benefit of viewers less accustomed to a Black Washingtonian accent.

I'm unsure whether the documentarians mean to imply that the punishments should be reduced for families' sakes. We never do learn the charges against the men, nor do they ever misbehave on camera. One is released and reportedly obeying the law; another gets a stiffer sentence than anticipated, with few opportunities for outside contact. (BTW, they've replaced the glass at visitation booths with screens showing visitors elsewhere on the premises, presumably to avoid attempts to break through.) We briefly see graffiti saying, "None are free until all are free," but nobody says anything about it.

If nothing else, I appreciate that Date With Dad appears to discourage recidivism. The doc claims that 95% of fathers in the program do not get re-incarcerated. It makes sense to remind them what they've been missing on the outside.

This isn't the sort of documentary that imparts a lot of information worth remembering. It emphasizes emotion and, as such, rather appeals to me.