Tag: Dee Rees

2nd Annual Athena Film Festival


Athena Film Fest

Yesterday the Athena Film Festival, which takes place February 9 – 12 at Barnard College in New York City, announced its lineup–and is it a good one!

The festival, created by Melissa Silverstein of Women and Hollywood and Kathryn Kolbert of the Athena Center for Leadership Studies at Barnard College, highlights women in film–whether behind or front of the camera, in writing, editing, and promotion. According to the site:

The Festival will highlight the wide diversity of women’s leadership in both real life and the fictional world, illuminating the stories of women from across the globe who have made a difference in their countries and communities. Our goal is to open a robust dialogue about women and leadership: what it takes to excel, collaborate, lead, and inspire.

I won’t list everything (go to the official site for the full list of films and awards), but here are some highlights of this year’s festival.
  • Awards will be presented to Rachael Horovitz, Julie Taymor, Dee Rees, Nekisa Cooper, Theresa Rebeck, Diablo Cody, Dana Fox, Liz Meriwether, Lorene Scafaria, and others.
  • Film screenings include:
  • There are two programs of short films, which include: The Director (Destri Martino), Equality, I Am Woman (Al Sutton), Slaying the Dragon Reloaded (Elaine Kim), Tasnim (Elite Zexer), Umoja: No Men Allowed (Elizabeth Tadic), Abuelas (Afarin Eghbal), Harriet Returns (Marquis Smalls), Junko’s Shamisen (Sol Friedman), Nurses for Africa (Benjamin and Robert Clyde), T’Ain’t Nobody’s Bizness: Queer Blues Divas of the 1920s (Robert Phillpson), and Unchastened (Brynmore Williams).
If you’re in the New York area, we highly recommend attending. We were there last year and had an amazing time. Tickets are very affordable (in terms of film festival tickets) and it really is a fantastic experience.

Preview: Pariah

Pariah (2011)

Pariah, written and directed by Dee Rees, debuted this past January at Sundance, and Focus Features purchased distribution rights. The film is Rees’ feature debut, and centers around 17-year-old Alike, who is coming to terms with her sexuality and identity as a black lesbian. Gregory Ellwood describes Pariah:
Based on a short film Rees originally premiered at Sundance in 2007, “Pariah” centers on Alike (an excellent Adepero Oduye), a 17-year-old Brooklyn girl who is struggling to find herself as a lesbian and, just as importantly, a young woman.  She know’s she’s gay, but is she the more masculine, boyish dyke who hits the underage dance hip-hop dance clubs that her best friend Laura (Pernell Walker) wants her to be?  Or, is she the more socially conscious hipster poet her new friend Bina (Aasha Davis) sees in her?  These are the rarely depicted voices in America that Rees embraces as common place which is one of the reasons “Pariah” feels so special.
Allison Loring provides a detailed plot summary in her post-Sundance analysis of the film, and offers praise for the film’s quiet brand of storytelling:
As we delve into Alike’s world, which is meticulously painted by director Dee Rees, from the standout music selections to the infuriating control Audrey insists on lording over her daughter, we discover nuanced performances from each member of the talented cast. Nothing in Alike’s life is black or white and it is those precarious gray areas that Rees navigates so beautifully as we go on this journey. PARIAH is subtle in its effect and draws viewers in to the story rather than telling it to them.
I would love to see this film in the theatre, and hope Focus puts some muscle into promoting it (their last Sundance acquisition was Academy Award winner The Kids Are All Right). The film is slated for release this year, but the date–as far as I can tell–remains unknown. If you’d like to see Pariah, visit the film’s official website and click the “Demand Pariah” button. You can also visit the film’s Facebook page.
Watch the trailer: