Ten years ago, filmmaker Dee Rees changed the game for queer filmmaking with her stunning semi-autobiographical debut feature, “Pariah.” The compelling coming-of-age story is set in Brooklyn and follows 17-year-old Alike (Adepero Oduye), a whip-smart high school student trying to grapple with her identity. At the same time, her straight-laced church-going parents, portrayed by Charles Parnell and Kim Waynes, continue to deny Alike’s evident sexual awakening.
“Pariah” was a force. Arriving at the Sundance Film Festival 15 years after Cheryl Dunye’s “The Watermelon Woman,” Rees’ first feature was nominated for countless awards and cemented her status as a major filmmaker. She followed it with “Mudbound” in 2017, which scored her an Oscar nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay. Her last effort, the Netflix-produced “The Last Thing He Wanted,” yielded mixed reviews — but Rees has already moved on with a slate of promising new projects, all of which suggest she’s on track to return to her “Pariah” roots.”
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