Writer/director Dee Rees’ critically acclaimed feature film Pariah about a 17-year-old African-American woman in Brooklyn embracing identity as a lesbian has two screening tonight at Anchorage’s Bear Tooth Theatre Pub.

In Pariah, Adepero Oduye 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 world premiere at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, the contemporary drama Pariah is the feature-length expansion of writer/director Dee Rees’ award-winning 2007 short film of the same title. Spike Lee is among the feature’s executive producers. At Sundance, cinematographer Bradford Young was honored with the [U.S. Dramatic Competition] Excellence in Cinematography Award.

“The year’s best coming-of-age film…. Writer/director Dee Rees’ voice is already powerful and gracefully confident… Actress Adepero Oduye is wonderful, the movie inspiring.” — Mary Pols, Time

Rated for sexual content and language.

• Date/time: Monday, March 26, 5:30 and 7:45 PM (two showings)
• Location:Bear Tooth Theatre Pub, 1230 West 27th Avenue, Anchorage (see map)
• Cost of admission: $3.50
• Further info: See the Bear Tooth Theatre Pub website

Watch the trailer: