Dee Rees

History in the making: Dee Rees

By: Alex Bloom Looking at her filmography, it is no surprise that the first full-length movie Dee Rees directed was a documentary. Eventual Salvation (2008) tells the story of her grandmother’s return to Liberia. Rees went on to direct Bessie (2015), a biopic of Bessie Smith starring Queen Latifah, as well as her latest work: the Netflix original Mudbound.      Mudbound, adapted from book to screenplay by Rees, illustrated to me her command of history. She is able make history feel real with her attention to detail and well-developed characters. Mudbound employs a great deal of narration, something that…

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