Dee Rees : (5)

" For me, Sundance always felt big. It’s not the only way to make your way, but for me, it was definitely that critical link between struggling artist, kind of working on my own, to actually working professionally and being connected and being seen. " - Dee Rees

" I want more images onscreen because when I was growing up, I think, like, that one kiss in ‘The Color Purple’ was the one thing that I had. Or ‘The Watermelon Woman.’ " - Dee Rees

" If I can go three grandmothers back and find a slave, that means someone else can go three grandmothers back and find a slave owner. When you interrogate your histories, it forces you to rethink who you are and where you are. " - Dee Rees

" I was always going to direct. I wasn’t going to hand my characters over to anyone else. " - Dee Rees

" Filmmaking in general is my second career. I thought that writing wasn’t practical, so I went to business school and got an MBA, and I worked three years in grant management. " - Dee Rees