Pariah

A world premiere at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, PARIAH is the feature-length expansion of writer/director Dee Rees’ award-winning 2007 short film. Adepero Oduye portrays Alike, a 17-year-old African-American woman who lives with her parents and younger sister in Brooklyn’s Fort Greene neighbourhood. A student at the local high school, Alike is quietly but firmly embracing her identity as a lesbian. With the support of her best friend, Laura (Pernell Walker), Alike is especially eager to find a girlfriend. At home, her parents’ strained marriage and their concern about Alike's development causes a great deal of tension. Wondering how much she can confide in her family, Alike strives to get through adolescence with grace, humour, and tenacity – sometimes succeeding, sometimes not, but always moving forward.