Directed by Dee Rees • 2011 • United States
Starring Adepero Oduye, Pernell Walker, Aasha Davis
The path to living as one’s authentic self is paved with trials and tribulations in this revelatory, assured feature debut by Dee Rees—the all-too-rare coming-of-age tale to honestly represent the experiences of queer Black women. Grounded in the fine-grained specificity and deft characterizations of Rees’s script and built around a beautifully layered performance from Adepero Oduye, PARIAH follows Brooklyn teenager Alike, who is navigating the emotional minefields of first love and heartache and the disapproval of her family as she expresses her gender and sexual identities within a system that does not make space for them. Achieving an aching intimacy with its subject through the expressive cinematography of Bradford Young, this deeply felt portrait finds strength in vulnerability and liberation in letting go.
Up Next in Black Debutantes
-
Pretty Red Dress
Directed by Dionne Edwards • 2022 • United Kingdom
Starring Natey Jones, Alexandra Burke, Temilola OlatunbosunA glamorous red dress unlocks a torrent of secrets and desires for a South London family in this vibrant, warmhearted exploration of identity and masculinity. Just out of prison, Travis...
-
Will
Directed by Jessie Maple • 1981 • United States
Starring Obaka Adedunyo, Loretta Devine, Robert DeanIn 1981, Jessie Maple became one of the first African American women to direct an independent film with this raw, unflinching portrait of heroin addiction and recovery. Shot on location in Harlem...
-
Naked Acts
Directed by Bridgett M. Davis • 1996 • United States
Starring Jake-Ann Jones, Ron Cephas Jones, Patricia DeArcyA long-unseen jewel of 1990s Black independent filmmaking, Bridgett M. Davis’s fearless exploration of Black female agency centers on Cicely (Jake-Ann Jones), the daughter of a former ...
