Pariah
Pariah
•
1h 26m
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 Pariah
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Dee Rees and Michelle Parkerson on PA...
In the following conversation, recorded in March 2021, director Dee Rees discusses the writing of and inspiration for her first feature film, PARIAH, with filmmaker, scholar, and author Michelle Parkerson.
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PARIAH Cast Reunion
Recorded in February 2021 on the occasion of PARIAH's ten-year anniversary, the following conversation, moderated by films cholar Jacqueline Stewart, features director Dee Rees and actors Adepero Oduye, Pernell Walker, Kim Wayans, Charles Parnell, and Aasha Davis recalling their immersive process...
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The Making of PARIAH: Department Heads
Director Dee Rees, cinematographer Bradford Young, production designer Inbal Weinberg, producer Nekisa Cooper, and editor Mako Kamitsuna talk about the evolution of PARIAH and the process of creating its visual aesthetic on a shoestring budget, in this discussion, moderated by film scholar Jacque...
