Pariah
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Pariah (2011 film)
| Pariah | |
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| Directed by | Dee Rees |
| Produced by | Spike Lee |
| Written by | Dee Rees |
| Starring | Adepero Oduye Kim Wayans Aasha Davis |
| Distributed by | Focus Features |
| Release date(s) |
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| Running time | 86 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Box office | $758,099 (USA) |
Pariah is a 2011 American contemporary drama film written and directed by Dee Rees. It tells the story of Alike (Adepero Oduye), a 17-year old African-American teenager embracing her identity as a lesbian. It premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and was awarded the Excellence in Cinematography Award.
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Plot
The film focuses on Alike (played by Adepero Oduye), a 17 year old African-American teenager who lives with her parents – Audrey (Kim Wayans) and Arthur (Charles Parnell) – and younger sister Sharonda (Sahra Mellesse) in Brooklyn’s Fort Greene neighborhood. Alike excels in poetry and is a good student at her local high school.
Alike is quietly but firmly embracing her identity as a lesbian. With the support of her openly gay best friend, Laura (Pernell Walker), Alike is especially eager to find a girlfriend. At home, her parents’ marriage is strained and there is further tension in the household whenever Alike’s development becomes a topic of discussion. Pressed by her mother into making the acquaintance of a colleague’s daughter, Bina (Aasha Davis), Alike finds Bina to be unexpectedly refreshing to socialize with.
Cast
- Adepero Oduye as Alike
- Aasha Davis as Bina, Alike’s love interest
- Charles Parnell as Arthur, Alike’s father
- Kim Wayans as Audrey, Alike’s mother
- Pernell Walker as Laura, Alike’s best friend
- Sahra Mellesse as Sharonda, Alike’s younger sister
Production and preparation
The film is a feature-length expansion of writer/director Dee Rees’ award-winning 2007 short film Pariah. Spike Lee is one of the executive producers. Filming took place in and around New York City predominantly in the Fort Greene neighborhood in Brooklyn.
Reception
Pariah premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and was awarded the Excellence in Cinematography Award[1]. The film will also show at the Toronto Film Festival in September 2011.
Pariah has received overall positive critical acclaim, with the film having a 96% "Fresh" rating on review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes based on 92 reviews. The website reported the critical consensus, "Pulsing with authenticity and led by a stirring lead performance from Adepero Oduye, Pariah is a powerful coming out/coming-of-age film that signals the arrival of a fresh new talent in writer/director Dee Rees."[2]
In his New York Times article, film critic A.O. Scott wrote that to watch Adepero Oduye play Alike “is to experience the thrill of discovery.” Scott continued by saying that “Pariah has a point to make, and a point of view to argue, but it also, above all, wants to illuminate an individual universe of meaning and emotion.”[3]
Adepero Oduye was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead.
Awards/Nominations
- African-American Film Critics Association
- Best Picture (runner-up)
- Best Independent Film (winner)
- Best Breakthrough Performance (Adepero Oduye) (Winner)
- Black Reel Awards [4]
- Best Picture, pending
- Best Director, (Dee Rees) pending
- Best Actress: Adepero Oduye, pending
- Best Screenplay: Dee Rees, pending
- Best Supporting Actress:
- Kim Wayans, pending
- Pernell Walker, pending
- Best Ensemble, pending
- Best Breakthrough Performance:
- Kim Wayans, pending
- Adepero Oduye, pending
- Black Film Critics Circle [5]
- Best Picture (runner-up)
- Best Director: (Dee Rees), Winner
- Best Original Screenplay: (Dee Rees), Winner
- Best Independent Film, Winner
- Best Breakthrough Performance: (Adepero Oduye), Winner
- Chlotrudis Awards [6]
- Best Movie (Nominated)
- Best Actress, Adepero Oduye (Nominated)
- Best Supporting Actress, Kim Wayans (Nominated)
- Independent Spirit Awards
- Best Female Lead, Adepero Oduye (Nominated)
References
- ^ "2011 Sundance Film Festival Announces Awards". Sundance Film Festival. Sundance Film Festival. http://www.sundance.org/press-center/release/2011-sundance-film-festival-announces-awards1/. Retrieved 9/9/2011.
- ^ "Pariah - Rotten Tomatoes". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/pariah_2011//. Retrieved 2012-03-01.
- ^ Scott, A. O.. "Modest Methods, Big Ambitions". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/23/movies/new-directorsnew-films-at-lincoln-center-and-museum-of-modern-art.html. Retrieved 9/8/2011.
- ^ "The Black Reel Awards | Saluting African-Americans in Films". Blackreelawards.wordpress.com. http://blackreelawards.wordpress.com/. Retrieved 2012-04-25.
- ^ "Black Film Critics Circle". Black Film Critics Circle. http://blackfilmcriticscircle.org/. Retrieved 2012-04-25.
- ^ "THE ARTIST leads the pack of nominations for the 18th annual Chlotrudis Awards | Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film". Chlotrudis.org. 2012-01-27. http://www.chlotrudis.org/content/artist-leads-pack-nominations-18th-annual-chlotrudis-awards. Retrieved 2012-04-25.
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