Spike Lee
It is April of 2020, and while the world pauses - its global citizens staying home to save lives - we would like to shine a spotlight on our notable alumni and recommend visiting or re-visiting their groundbreaking cinematic work.
Welcome to the first installment of NYU Grad Film’s Streaming Spotlight, where we feature our Artistic Director and alumnus, Academy Award winner Professor Spike Lee. The prolific Lee has directed over 23 films in the past four decades, and is one of the most highly influential American directors today. Amidst his vast oeuvre, we recommend a few under-the-radar gems for your illumination and enjoyment:
"4 Little Girls"
4 Little Girls (1997): A historical documentary film about the September 15, 1963 case of four African-American girls in the 16th Street Baptist Church bombing in Birmingham, Alabama. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Documentary.
"Inside Man"
Inside Man (2006): A heist thriller film that centers on an elaborate bank heist on Wall Street over a 24-hour period. The film stars Denzel Washington as Detective Keith Frazier, the NYPD's hostage negotiator, Clive Owen as Dalton Russell, the mastermind who orchestrates the heist, and Jodie Foster as Madeleine White, a Manhattan power broker who becomes involved at the request of the bank's founder, to keep something in his safe deposit box protected from the robbers.
"25th Hour"
25th Hour (2002): A drama starring Edward Norton. Adapted by David Benioff from his own novel The 25th Hour, it tells the story of a man's last 24 hours of freedom as he prepares to go to prison for seven years for dealing drugs.
"Crooklyn"
Crooklyn (1994): A semi-autobiographical film that takes place in the Bedford–Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, during the summer of 1973. Its primary focus is a young girl, Troy (played by Zelda Harris), and her family. Throughout the film, Troy learns life lessons through her four rowdy brothers, her loving but strict mother (Alfre Woodard), and her naive, struggling father (Delroy Lindo).
"Chi-Raq"
Chi-Raq (2015): A musical crime comedy-drama set in Chicago that focuses on gang violence. The story is based on Aristophanes' Lysistrata, a Classical Greek comedy play in which women withhold sex from their husbands as punishment for fighting in the Peloponnesian War.