SPIKE LEE By Nina Ejirika

INTRODUCTION Spike Lee is unquestionably the most famous African American director. He is also, arguably, the most controversial. In his public pronouncements and even in the name of his production company, Forty Acres and a Mule Filmworks, Lee is pro-Black. He is outspoken in his condemnation of the pandemic racism that has cast a shadow over the history of this country. But in his films he frequently depicts aspects of the African American community in a manner that is less than flattering. Lee drew attention with his first feature, She's Gotta Have It one of the most profitable films made in 1986 and continues to create films that explore provoking topics like race, politics and violence. He is also known for his documentaries and commercials.

BRIEF BIOGRAPHY Actor, director, producer and writer Spike Lee was born Shelton Jackson Lee on March 20, 1957, in Atlanta, Georgia. Growing up in a relatively well-off African American family, Lee was making amateur films by age 20. His first student film, Last Hustle in Brooklyn, was completed when he was an undergraduate at Morehouse College. Lee went on to graduate from the New York University Film School in His thesis film, Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads, won a Student Academy Award.

CINEMATIC CAREER Lee became a director of promise with his first feature film, She's Gotta Have I t, in The film was shot in two weeks and cost $175,000 to make, but grossed more than $7 million at the box office, making it one of the most profitable films made in Spike Lee made 19 films in 18 years. He has written, directed, produced, and occasionally starred in 12 of these films including School Daze, Do The Right Thing, Crooklyn and He Got Game. Some of the films that he produced that you may not have known were his include The Original Kings Of Comedy, Love and Basketball, The Best Man, Tales from the Hood, Drop Squad, Good Fences, and 3 A.M.

THE THEMES OF A SPIKE LEE JOINT Inter/Intra-racism Black Female Sexuality Biography/Documentary School Daze (1988) She’s Gotta Have It (1986) Malcolm X (1992) Do The Right Thing (1989) Girl 6 (1996) Crooklyn (1994) Jungle Fever (1991) She Hate Me (2004) 4 Little Girls (1997) Get on the Bus (1996) Jim Brown All American Summer of Sam (1999) (2002) Bamboozled (2000) Family/Father & Miscellaneous Relationship Mo’ Better Blues (1990) Crooklyn (1994) Clockers (1995) Get on the Bus (1996) The Original Kings of He Got Game (1998) Comedy (2000) 25th Hour (2002)

HIGHEST RATED FILM: SHE’S GOTTA HAVE IT 1986 Cannes Film Festival Award of the Youth, Spike Lee; Foreign Film Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards, Spike Lee; New Generation Award 1987 Independent Spirit Awards, Spike Lee; Best First Feature

HIS LATEST PROJECT: DA SWEET BLOOD OF JESUS Controversially used Kickstarter to fund the project The film was released June 22, 2014 on American Black Film on Festival the closing film. The film is schedulable to be released in theaters and on VOD on February 13, 2015 A modern reinterpretation of Bill Gunn's cult classic Blaxploitation film Ganja & Hess. Bill Gunn also helped Spike Lee write the script for the film. Not received well by the critics

CLIPS AND TRAILERS She’s Gotta Have It trailer: Do the Right Thing trailer: Red Hook Summer trailer: Oldboy trailer: School Daze clip: Inside Man trailer:

SOURCES "Spike Lee." Bio. A&E Television Networks, Web. 30 Nov Jones, K. Maurice. Spike Lee and the African American Filmmakers: A Choice of Colors. Brookfield, Connecticut: The Millbrook Press, 1996 "Spike Lee Biography (1956?-)". Filmreference.com. RetrievedAugust 14, 2010."Spike Lee Biography (1956?-)" Lee, Spike. Spike Lee: Interviews. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, Do the Right Thing. London: British Film Institute, "Spike Lee." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 12 Mar Web. 03 Dec