do the right thing Filmmaker Spike Lee received a standing ovation when he took to the stage at London’s BFI Southbank on Monday night to accept the BFI Fellowship award.
Lee received the award from him Inner man Starring Clive Owen, whom the New Yorker described as a “true pioneer” who will go down in history as “one of the most important directors of his generation”.
In accepting the award, Lee thanked his wife Tonya Lewis Lee, who was in the audience, and the artists he has worked with throughout his career, stressing that his decades-long career is the result of close collaboration.
“I’ve said it in many interviews, it’s not just me – there are tons of people you don’t see on this stage,” he said. “It takes a team effort. It takes a gang effort.
Lee concluded his speech by telling the packed audience – which included a mix of avid film fans and filmmakers such as Edgar Wright – that every day he makes a film, he arrives on set and feels a deep connection with his crew members .
“We all love each other and we love what we do. We all understand that the majority of people on earth have a job they hate all their lives and we can make a living doing what we love. It is one of the greatest blessings a person can have,” he said.
The evening began with Lee speaking on stage with British fashion designer Ozwald Boateng. The pair discussed Lee’s career at length, starting with his first student film, a 1977 documentary about life in New York City, to his work on films such as Malcolm X, Summer of Sam, And 25 hours.
Lee told Boateng that he still writes each of his scripts by hand because he hates typing, but he only uses purple ink. The filmmaker also wore a purple suit. Elsewhere in the conversation, Lee presented excerpts from his films and discussed the process of staging scenes and working with actors.
During an introduction to the closing scene of his 1992 epic Malcolm XLee took a moment to highlight the work of Angela Bassett, who plays Malcolm X’s wife Betty Shabazz in the biopic.
“She’s going to win the Oscar. You heard it here first. She’s going to win,” Lee said, referring to Bassett, who was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress this year for her role in Ryan Coogler’s. Black Panther follow up Wakanda forever.
As part of his London trip, Lee will also visit teams from the BFI National Archives who worked with him on a new 35mm print of Malcolm Xpremiere at the BFI’s first Film on Film Festival, which takes place at the BFI Southbank in June.
As always, Lee also expressed his opinion on a range of political and social issues in contemporary American life, including gun violence, which he said was due in part to politicians pimping themselves out at the National Rifle Association.
Lee also criticized the rising cost of living in his native New York, which he said was driving what he called “reverse migration.”
“A lot of black people are moving back south, and Puerto Ricans and Dominicans are moving back to the islands because they can’t afford the city,” he said.
He added, “New York City without people of color would be a very boring place.”
The Fellowship Award is the BFI’s highest honor and honors artists who have made “outstanding contributions to moving image culture”.
Past honorees include Martin Scorsese and Thelma Schoonmaker, Satyajit Ray, Tilda Swinton, David Lean, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, Steve McQueen, Akira Kurosawa and Orson Welles.
Speaking to Deadline ahead of the event, Lee said he decided to accept the award and traveled to London because the BFI is a “huge institution” in the film community.
“They love cinema and their whole purpose is to spread the wonder of cinema. Just look at the previous list of award winners. That’s why I’m here,” Lee said.
Lee added that he believes his greatest contribution to film is his work as a professor at NYU Graduate Film School.
“I like teaching. I’ve been doing this for 30 years. Now I am a permanent professor. I am also the artistic director of NYU Film School, which in my opinion is the best film school on this earth god, with no disrespect to other schools, especially USC and AFI,” he said.
The filmmaker is currently finalizing his EPSN-sponsored multi-series documentary titled Colin Kaepernick’s sagaabout the American civil rights activist and American football quarterback who has been banned from the National Football League since 2016 for kneeling before games.
The docu-series was first announced in July 2020 when Kaepernick signed an extensive first-look deal with The Walt Disney Company through his Ra Vision Media.
“It’s been over a year,” Lee said of the production of the document. ‘But there are some bombs in there. I can tell you that.”
Source: Deadline
Elizabeth Cabrera is an author and journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a talent for staying up-to-date on the latest news and trends, Elizabeth is dedicated to delivering informative and engaging articles that keep readers informed on the latest developments.
