Dee Rees talks to BlackFilm.com

In a recent interview with Fred Topel for Blackfilm.com, PARIAH writer/director Dee Rees opens up about her filmmaking process. It's a smart and thoughtful interview in which Rees talks about identity politics, Spike Lee, and the meaning of "Pariah." When asked about people connecting so intimately with the story, Rees responded, "I know that even though this is a really specific story, identity is a universal struggle and a universal experience." And while the story's impact is universal, Rees is hopeful her tale reaches LGBT youth. As she remarks:

I hope that it just gives people a reference point. I hope it gives LGBT youth and particularly LGBT youth of color another kind of marker, another reference point. They don't see themselves necessarily in everyday media so here's one more thing they have to point to, to look at. It just gives them something to grow up with. Coming up, there was very little for me to see.