Dee Rees, the writer-director of the
teen lesbian drama Pariah, has said she believes the film has
universal appeal, GayStarNews.com
reported.
In the movie, Alike (played by Adepero
Oduye), an African-American teen, is living with her conservative
parents and sister in Brooklyn's Fort Greene neighborhood as she
begins to affirm her identity as a lesbian. Alike is especially
eager to find love. (Watch
the film's trailer at our video library.)
Rees said at a recent press junket in
Los Angeles that there are similarities between the film and her own
experience coming out.
“It's the emotions I experienced that
were the same,” Rees said. “Who I was was not a choice. … I
knew this film was a universal story. I'm excited to see it playing
out and seeing people respond to it.”
“She has resiliency,” Rees said of
the film's main character. “I wanted to show that you can
encounter broken relationships but it doesn't mean it's the end of
the world. I didn't want her sexuality to be a tragic thing.”
Pariah opened Wednesday in New
York, San Francisco and Los Angeles. A six city expansion – San
Diego, Washington, D.C., Chicago, Cambridge, Dallas and Seattle –
is scheduled for Friday, January 6.