The highpoint of Dee Rees’ IFP Week appearance was a complete surprise. There to discuss her latest feature, the Sundance fave Mudbound (hitting theaters and Netflix on Nov. 17) with Buzzfeed film critic Alison Willmore, the Pariah filmmaker waxed nostalgic over one of the films that most inspired her to take up the craft: Sugar Cane Alley, Euzhan Palcy’s 1983 César-winner about life in a small village in Martinique during the 1930s. Rees’ mother had it on VHS when she was a kid, and she would watch it over and over again. “That was before I understood what a director did,” […]
by Matt Prigge on Sep 19, 2017Focus Features has just uploaded three short videos about the making of Dee Rees’ Pariah, which continues to open around the country. Here are she and two of her actors talking about the homework assignments they received while on set.
by Scott Macaulay on Jan 13, 2012Just before its Sundance premiere, the team behind Pariah — writer/director Dee Rees, producer Nekisa Cooper, and actresses Adepero Oduye and Kim Wayans — sat down with Jamie Stuart and me to discuss their film’s path to the big screen. Check it out, and make sure to see the film itself, which opened yesterday in limited release from Focus Features. (Note: video contains one mild spoiler.) [jwplayer config=”FM Player” file=”https://filmmakermagazine.com/videos/PARIAH_FINAL_CUT.mov” image=”https://filmmakermagazine.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/Adepero-Oduye-Still.jpg”]
by Scott Macaulay on Dec 29, 2011After winning the Breakthrough Director award at this year’s Gotham Independent Film Awards, Dee Rees sat down with us for a brief chat about her highly anticipated debut, Pariah. Which opens this week. If you’re an avid reader our site (or the magazine), you already know a bit about Rees. She was one of our 25 New Faces of Independent Film in 2008 and already this year you’ve seen her in our video pieces from Sundance and the NYC taxi cab spots we produced. But that’s not all. Later this week you’ll see another video with Rees from Sundance, which […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Dec 26, 2011I’ll be blogging this week from the 2011 IFP Filmmaker Labs, which are in their third and final session at 92Y Tribeca. This year’s 21 participating documentary and narrative projects, are nearing completion of the grueling post-production process and are now turning their attention towards the marketplace. Things kicked off this morning with a sobering discussion about sales and rights, led by Jon Reiss, co-author of Selling Your Film Without Selling Your Soul (presented by PreScreen and Area 23, also written by The Film Collaborative and Sherri Candler). Alongside the other lab leaders, Reiss stressed that filmmakers should always use […]
by Jane Schoenbrun on Dec 7, 2011Over at the Shadow and Act blog Tambay Obenson has post two clips from one of the favorites from this past Sundance, Dee Rees‘ Pariah. Opening Dec. 28 through Focus Features, the film highlights the impressive talents — and relentlessness — of its writer-director (who along with being a 25 New Faces alum is nominated for Breakthrough Director at this year’s Gotham Awards) and star Adepero Oduye; as you’ll see in the clips and the trailer below. If you’re a reader of this site you already know a lot about Pariah. One of my favorite pieces on the film is […]
by Jason Guerrasio on Nov 9, 2011Did you miss the Filmmaker Conference at Independent Film Week last month? Me too – I managed to catch a few panels, but I spent most of the week running around, working, and attending other IFW events (as evidenced by my photo blogs here, here, and here). Luckily, IFP will streaming the entire conference available to members. One new video will be added to ifp.org every weekday this month. Membership levels start at $35, which for roughly 30 hours of film industry education (and tons of other benefits) is not a bad deal. One video is already online – a […]
by Jane Schoenbrun on Oct 14, 2011If you’ve taken a ride in the back of a New York City taxi cab these last two weeks, you may have heard the stories of seven of New York’s most distinctive independent filmmakers of the moment. In partnership with Royal Bank of Canada and the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment, the IFP has produced six spots that are playing not only in cabs but on NYC Life. Jamie Stuart directed, T. Griffin scored and I produced these pieces, and each one, in addition to profiling a person, highlights a different aspect of the independent filmmaker’s current creative, production […]
by Scott Macaulay on Oct 11, 2011Dee Rees’ powerful gay-themed drama has been one of our favorite film projects of the last few years. The film went through the IFP Narrative Lab, and two of its principals — writer/director Rees and d.p. Bradford Young — appeared on our “25 New Faces” list. So, we were thrilled when the film was picked up at Sundance by Focus Features and Rees was given a development deal. Focus has just released the trailer, which I’ve embedded below. And see my piece on Rees from the 2008 25 New Faces list and Jason Guerrasio’s on Young from the 2009 list.
by Scott Macaulay on Jun 13, 2011Dee Rees’s debut feature, Pariah, is celebrating its 10th anniversary this month with a free screening and Q&A hosted by the Academy Museum. Rees, who first appeared in Filmmaker when she was selected for our 2008 25 New Faces, was interviewed upon the film’s release by Brandon Harris. That interview, originally dated November 18, 2011, is reposted below. The free screening of Pariah is viewable until May 20. — Editor With Pariah, a buoyant tale of a young, middle-class New York lesbian’s tough coming-of-age amid the class and cultural proxy battles that simmer within black America, lauded newcomer Dee Rees […]
by Brandon Harris on May 10, 2011