Tisch Alumna Receives Tribeca Film Fellowship

Last month, Diandrea (Dee) Rees (TSOA’07), an alumna from the Kanbar Institute of Film and Television, was one of 22 recipients of a Tribeca Film Institute 2008 Media Arts Fellowship for Artistic Excellence, awarded to filmmakers and media artists whose work pushes boundaries.

      Rees’s film Pariah is a feature that expands upon a previous short in which a black, lesbian teenager struggles with self-doubt as she juggles multiple identities in an attempt to please both her friends and family. Rees has received numerous awards for the short, including accolades from the Palm Springs International Festival of Short Films and Outfest. She is currently finishing the documentary feature Eventual Salvation, which was supported by Chicken & Egg Pictures and Tribeca All Access.

      The fellowship offers cash awards of $35,000 each, and is supported by the Rockefeller Foundation.

      — Richard Pierce