Last year writer-director Dee Rees won serious acclaim from critics for her compelling coming-of-age indie drama Pariah. Though made on a shoestring budget, the Brooklyn-set feature unfolded the compelling and subtly told story of an African-American teen, struggling to find her own identity amidst conflicting parental and peer pressure. Unfortunately, while it won honors within the indie community at Sundance and the Spirit Awards, Pariah was overlooked at the Oscars and Golden Globes, meaning Rees, her star Adepero Oduye and the film were cheated from some major and well-deserved praise and exposure.
Happily, critics weren't the only ones who took notice of Rees' talents as Variety has announced producer Mike Lobell (Tears of the Sun) has attached her to his long in-development drama This Man, This Woman. Penned by Eyes Wide Shut scribe Frederic Raphael, This Man, This Woman centers on a divorced couple whose forced to confront their shared, tragedy-stricken past when fate puts them next to each other on a long, and life-changing flight. Lobell has been developing the project for 17 years, and after seeing Pariah, decided Rees' was the director he'd been waiting for. Now Rees and Lobell will delve into the casting process before pursuing possible financiers.
There's no mention of how old the central characters of the drama are, or what types are being sought, so it's hard to speculate who might be pursued for the feature. But hopefully some noteworthy name will take the chance to work with this remarkable, rising director, making it easier for This Man, This Woman to secure financing. In the meantime, Rees is gearing up to helm the Southern-set thriller Bolo for Focus Features, which distributed Pariah, and is in-development on an HBO series which will star two-time Oscar-nominee Viola Davis.
