When forced to choose between losing her best friend or destroying her family, a Bronx teenager juggles conflicting identities and endures heartbreak in a desperate search for sexual expression.

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.

A Focus Features, Northstar Pictures, and Sundial Pictures presentation in association with aid+abet, Chicken & Egg Pictures, and MBK Entertainment. A Dee Rees Film. Pariah. Adepero Oduye, Pernell Walker, Aasha Davis, Charles Parnell, Sahra Mellesse, and Kim Wayans. Casting, Eyde Belasco, CSA. Edited by Mako Kamitsuna. Production Design by Inbal Weinberg. Cinematography by Bradford Young. Produced by Nekisa Cooper. Written and Directed by Dee Rees. A Focus Features Release.

2011, USA, 84mins, color.

Director and screenwriter: Dee Rees

CAST:

Adepero Oduye
Alike

Pernell Walker
Laura

Aasha Davis
Bina

Charles Parnell
Arthur

Sahra Mellesse
Sharonda

Kim Wayans
Audrey




Dee Rees
Writer/Director

Bradford Young
Cinematography

Nekisa Cooper
Producer

Inbal Weinberg
Production Designer

Mako Kamitsuna
Editor

Eniola Dawodu
Costume Designer

Spike Lee
Executive Producer

Jeff Robinson, Jeanine McLean
Executive Producers

Sam Martin
Executive Producer

Mary Jane Skalski
Executive Producer

Susan Lewis
Executive Producer

Ann Bradley
Executive Producer

Stefan Nowicki, Benjamin Weber, Joey Carey
Executive Producers

Julie Parker Benello, Judith Helfand, Wendy Ettinger
Executive Producers

Douglas A. Eisenberg, Matthew J. Simon
Executive Producers

A Focus Features release

Pariah (2011) 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.


FESTIVALS

2011 | Sundance Film Festival, USA
* World Premiere
* U.S. Cinema Dramatic Competition
* Excellence in Cinematography Award (for cinematographer Bradford Young).
http://sundance.slated.com/2011/films/pariah_sundance2011

OFFICIAL SELECTION, 2010 IFP Narrative Lab

WINNER, 2010 Cinereach Grant

FINALIST, 2009 Netflix FIND Your Voice Competition

WINNER, 2009 Astraea Foundation Grant

WINNER, 2009 Adrienne Shelly Foundation Grant

FINALIST, 2009 Sundance/NHK International Filmmaker Award

WINNER, 2008 Time Warner Storytelling Award

WINNER, 2008 Rockefeller Grant

OFFICIAL SELECTION, 2008 Sundance Institute Producer's Lab

OFFICIAL SELECTION, 2008 Sundance Institute Director's Lab

OFFICIAL SELECTION, 2008 Sundance Institute Writer's Lab

OFFICIAL SELECTION, 2007 IFP Market - Emerging Narrative

OFFICIAL SELECTION, 2007 Sundance Institute Writer's Lab