Writer/Director Dee Rees on the set of her feature film debut, Pariah (2011). Inspired by Rees’s own coming out, Pariah tells the story of a young Brooklyn teenager struggling with conflicting identities. The film won the Cinematography Award at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize. Rees was awarded Breakthrough Director at the 2011 Gotham Awards.

Writer/Director Dee Rees on the set of her feature film debut, Pariah (2011). Inspired by Rees’s own coming out, Pariah tells the story of a young Brooklyn teenager struggling with conflicting identities. The film won the Cinematography Award at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize. Rees was awarded Breakthrough Director at the 2011 Gotham Awards.