Philly filmmaker thrilled about "Push" from Oprah

"

God

put Oprah here for a reason. You can't get someone who believes in you the way she does,"

» READ MORE: says Wynnefield native filmmaker Lee Daniels

. He's thrilled that both

Oprah Winfrey

and

Tyler Perry

have agreed to do what they can to promote his new film, "Push: Based on the Novel by

Sapphire

," which has been picked up for distribution by Lionsgate Films. Daniels swears the film, about a teenage girl in Harlem who is pregnant for the second time with her father's baby, is "not as dark as people might think." He assures it's "OK to laugh along with the situation as our main character [played by newcomer

Gabourey Sidibe

] does." Despite the multiple awards heaped on the film at Sundance, where it premiered, Daniels, who won an Oscar for producing "Monster's Ball," says he "learned early on never to read any of my reviews because if I believe the good ones, I have to believe the bad ones." So he's not too excited. His next film, "Tennessee," stars

Mariah Carey

and is due for theatrical release next month. Carey also co-stars in "Push," which has no release date yet.