Free screening: Dee Rees's acclaimed "Pariah" at BAAD!

Friday, February 6

at BAAD!

5pm -- screening of Pariah

6:30pm -- open mic

8:30 -- dance contest

This free event begins with the powerful coming out/coming-of-age film about a 17-year-old African-American woman quietly but firmly embracing her identity as a lesbian and living with her parents and younger sister in Brooklyn's Fort Greene neighborhood. She strives to love, be loved and get through adolescence with grace, humor, and tenacity. Directed by Dee Rees and executive produced by Spike Lee.

The screening will be followed by an open mic/open stage for youth and all to express themselves and a dance contest with a $50 cash prize.

Click here to view Pariah's trailer.

BAAD!
2474 Westchester Avenue, Bronx (map/directions)
718-918-2110
BAADBronx@gmail.com

Black lesbian films before "Pariah"

Black Lesbian Films: Before Pariah
by Salamishah Tillet, The Root, January

A new spectrum of Black identity in film

‘Pariah’ Reveals Another Side of Being Black in the U.S.
by Nelson George, The New York Times, December 23, 2011

A special screening of "Pariah"

Back in March, I posted my review of Pariah, a wonderful new film by Dee Rees about the life of a young Black lesbian. Now here's an invitation to join the Brooklyn-based Black and Women of Color lesbian organization Circle of Voices for a special screening in support of this important film:

Wednesday, October 5 at 8pm

Universal Screening Room
666 5th Avenue
(between 5th and 6th Avenues; entrance on West 53rd Street; 6th Floor) Manhattan (map)

A world premiere at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, the contemporary drama Pariah is the feature-length expansion of writer/director Dee Rees' award-winning 2007 short film Pariah. Spike Lee is among the feature's executive producers.

Adepero Oduye, who had earlier starred in the short film, portrays Alike (pronounced ah-lee-kay), a 17-year-old African-American woman who lives with her parents Audrey and Arthur (Kim Wayans and Charles Parnell) and younger sister Sharonda (Sahra Mellesse) in Brooklyn's Fort Greene neighborhood. She has a flair for poetry, and is a good student at her local high school. Alike is quietly but firmly embracing her identity as a lesbian. With the sometimes boisterous support of her best friend, out lesbian 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. Wondering how much she can confide in her family, Alike strives to get through adolescence with grace, humor, and tenacity--sometimes succeeding, sometimes not, but always moving forward.

Check out the trailer.

To attend the screening, you must RSVP to Wellington Love at wellingtonlove@15minutespr.com.

IMPORTANT: Be sure to type this code--Circle of Voices--in your Subject line.

NDNF fest presents "Pariah"

Here's one more must-see film from the Film Society of Lincoln Center's upcoming New Directors/New Films Festival, 40th Anniversary edition:

Pariah (US, 2011)

Written and directed by Dee Rees

86 min.
a Focus Features release

Oh, my, oh, my. 

Dee Rees's semiautobiographical Pariah is a fine, fine work of art. The story of young Black teenager's coming out as a lesbian in Fort Greene, Brooklyn has nearly everything going for it--a remarkably brisk pace, Rees's sharp ear for dialogue and true affection for her characters, the immediate and lasting appeal of her actors. About the only turnoff is the occasional, queasy-making hyperactivity of Bradford Young's camera but, thankfully, there's not a whole lot of shaking and swerving going on. For the most part, Young's eye is stable and stellar, with an aesthetic of light and color that makes this film delectable.

Aasha Davis, left, with Adepero Oduye
 (Photo: Focus Features)

Young budding writer Alike (pronounced Ah-LEE-kay), played by Adepero Oduye, is a work-in-progress, challenged to discover herself and take her place in the world while caught between far more experienced friends and a fearful, frustrated, controlling mother. Oduye has charm to burn and a sensitive fluidity in her acting that makes you care about her from the start. But you really come to care about everyone here. The excellent cast also includes Pernell Walker (as Alike's best pal, Laura), Kim Wayans (as the difficult mom), Charles Parnell (her interestingly complex detective dad), Aasha Davis (Bina, another friend) and Sahra Mellesse (Sharonda, Alike's younger sister).

We clamor for more high-quality projects for talented Black actors. Now here's a worthy project of that caliber, and--guess what?--it comes from a Black lesbian writer/director, telling a Black lesbian's exemplary story. Hooray!

See Pariah at the Walter Reade Theater at Lincoln Center on March 26 (8pm) or at the Museum of Modern Art on March 28 (9pm). For more information and ticketing, click here. And here's the film's official Web site.