Dago, wop, guinea, garlic-breath, pizza-slingin', spaghetti-bendin',
Vic Damone, Perry Como, Luciano Pavarotti,
solo mio non-singing motherfucker.
High-jumpin', spear-chuckin', 360-degree basketball-dunkin'...
Pointy shoes, red-wearin', menudo, mira mira, Puerto Rican cocksucker.
Chocolate-egg-cream drinking, bagel-and-lox, B'nai B'rith, Jew asshole.
Yo! Hold up! Time-out!
Time-out!
Y'all take a chill!
You need to cool that shit out!
And that's the double truth, Ruth.
[film projector whirring]
[man] Film is a very powerful medium,
and it can take you to places you've never been before,
never knew about, never heard about.
It can connect you with things that you say,
"You know what? That happened to me. That's me there."
You must define beauty for black people.
[audience cheers, applauds]
Now that's black power!
Right on.
- Right on. -[all chanting] Hell no, we won't go!
[man] Art goes out and affects people you don't even know,
who are moved so much that they wanna reach out and tell you
how the films have changed their lives.
Dear Spike, It is because of your films
that I'm now in a career that I never imagined for myself.
Your influence on me changed the course of my life.
[man] I'd never seen black life reflected in a film
so clearly before you came along.
- [man] You've been had. - [crowd applauds, cheers]
You've been took.
You've been hoodwinked. Bamboozled.
Led astray.
Run amok.
[man] Historically, films do not have a diverse perspective.
And as a black filmmaker,
I've always looked at the world differently.
There's something about you.
-About me? -Uh-huh.
- Good or bad? - [laughs] I haven't figured it out yet.
[man] I want to tell the world, This is who I am.
This is who we are. This is our story.
- [woman 1] Dear Spike... - [man 1] Dear Spike...
- [man 2] Dear Spike... - [woman 2] Dear Spike...
[Lee] I come from a generation...
where your parents told you...
"You gotta be 10 times better than your white classmates.
You're a young black boy, and if you're not 10 times better,
you're gonna get left behind."
I'd say, "Mommy, that's not fair."
My mother said, "Fuck fair.
This country's not set up for us to win."
I mean, my mother was like [laughs]...
She was radical.
My mother was an English teacher. She taught black literature.
And she was also a cinephile.
She would drag my brother Chris and I to the theater.
We didn't wanna go.
We just wanted to run up and down the streets.
We would go kickin' and screamin'.
So, I remember seeing Mean Streets.
Hold it. What's the matter with you guys?
[Lee] The Godfather.
And every time we went, we would say, "You know, that was good."
You can act like a man!
What's the matter with you?
[Lee] And so, my mother was the one that taught me the love of film.
My father hated movies.
My father hated movies because he didn't like the depiction of African Americans.
Willie's here, baby. It's all right.
[woman screams]
[tires squealing]
At the time, the time of the black exploitation era films.
[male announcer] He's got a plan to stick it to the man.
[Lee] So, he never went to films.
And when I decided to be a filmmaker,
I knew that I wanted to change the game.
When I started film school at NYU,
one of the first films that was screened for us
was D.W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation.
And we were taught that D.W. Griffith, is the father of cinema...
and were shown the many film innovations which he came up with.
But the teacher left a lot out.
The Klan was dormant when this film came out.
We were not taught this film was responsible for the rebirth of the Klan.
We were not taught that this film directly led to black people being beat,
lynched, castrated, hung and burnt.
That was not discussed.
And so, it was a very good wake-up call
that there was no voice for black people in film.
I finished NYU in '82,
and I kept thinking about, "What do I wanna say?
How am I looking in this world?
What can I say that's different?"
And I wrote She's Gotta Have It.
In that film, Nola Darling has three lovers at the same time.
He wanted a wife, that mythic, old-fashioned girl next door.
But it's more than that. It's about control.
My body, my mind.
Who's gonna own it, them or me?
I am not a one-man woman.
[Lee] So, for three years, I was writing letters,
writing postcards, calling people up to invest in the film.
I was doing Kickstarter and GoFundMe before there was that.
I barely got the budget to do She's Gotta Have It.
And so, it was a very, very quick shoot.
Twelve days, crazy short amount of time.
I had not intended to play the role of Mars Blackmon,
but I didn't have any money to pay anybody else.
And we just had to get it done.
I knew that if I get the film made, there was an audience for this film,
She's Gotta Have It.
It was funny, it was sensuous, and for a lot of people,
they had never seen black people on-screen the way they were in that film.
Spike Lee from Brooklyn has created quite a fuss
with his first feature film, She's Gotta Have It.
[Simmons] He received a standing ovation for the film
at this year's Cannes Festival,
and it has become a box-office smash, as they say.
[Announcer] The mass appeal of She's Gotta Have It has turned
the sometimes quiet, introspective Lee into a sought-after celebrity.
You Spike Lee?
-Ohhh! -[chattering]
[Lee] And so, the film becomes a hit.
Nike's advertising agency saw the film,
and it was their idea to pair Mars Blackmon with Michael Jordan.
My whole life changed after that.
Money, money. Why do you wanna do that to me? Why you leave me hangin'?
And so, it was only with the success of She's Gotta Have It,
I got to do School Daze.
[announcer] Movie number two for Spike Lee is a musical comedy called School Daze,
about life in an all-black college.
-I want intensity! -Yeah!
-I want reckless abandon! -Yeah!
I want you to remember that this is Mission College!
Yeah!
I cannot tell you how many people have told me
that they had never thought of going to college until they saw School Daze.
They didn't even know there were black schools.
-Gammites! -Greetings!
Gamma men are real men.
[Lee] And that's one of the things people said have changed their lives.
School Daze changed their lives.
It made them want education at a predominantly black school.
[man] Dear Spike, I grew up in Charleston, South Carolina.
I knew I wanted to go to college, but in my mind,
higher education looked like a college in Charleston,
which was predominantly white.
"I didn't know how I would fit into such a place."
Then one night, when I was 15,
my uncle was taking his soon-to-be wife on a date.
And my grandmother asked them to let me tag along.
So, the three of us went to the theater
to see the newest Spike Lee Joint, School Daze.
Watching this incredible story of a fictional college
where African Americans dominated the space...
"My eyes were opened and my life was changed forever."
A historically black college-- I had never seen anything like that before.
From the moment I walked out of that theater,
I knew I wanted to go to a historically black college or university.
More than that, I wanted to teach at one.
So, I applied and was accepted at South Carolina State University.
I earned a PhD in higher education,
and now I'm the 18th president of Kentucky State University,
a historically black college in Frankfurt, Kentucky.
"Each year, we screen your film to the entire student body."
To this day, I've seen School Daze 204 times.
204 times.
That's a lot.
And every time I watch it,
it's as though I'm watching my life and the lives of my students on-screen.
Come here, doctor.
- Mayor, I gotta go. I'm working. - Come here, Doctor.
- This is the Mayor talking. - All right, all right.
-Doctor? -Come on. What? What?
Always do the right thing.
After School Daze, I wanted to do this film
that took place on the hottest day of the summer.
Mookie, don't work too hard today. The man says it's gonna be hot as the devil.
Everybody knows that when it gets hot, I mean, things will jump off.
Traffic, eight million people on top of each other.
So, the goal was to do a film that takes place in one day.
And as the temperature goes up, things escalate into a riot.
Hey, man, get the fuck out of here! We're fuckin' closed!
Fuck you!
We're closing you guinea bastards! For good, motherfucker!
Sal, put the fuckin' bat down!
- [man 1] Come on, Ahmad! - [man 2] You guinea!
[screaming, shouting]
We went to Cannes with this film.
And American press was alarmed by it.
Spike Lee's new movie, Do the Right Thing, is drawing some praise
and arousing heated controversy.
[announcer] Some critics have gone as far as saying it could incite violence.
[Lee] There was a certain part of the American press who felt that this film
was going to incite black folks to riot.
[siren wailing]
[police radio chatter]
That when this film came out, blood would be on my hands.
And trying to stir up an hysteria amongst white moviegoers,
that if you went to the theater, your life would be in danger.
It was horrible.
I really don't tell audiences what to feel. I want them to think.
I want them to think about the serious issue of race relations,
racism in this country today.
The goal of the film was to give people some insight,
and at that time, in New York City, a lot of race stuff going on.
It was a very tense time.
Another bold and vicious crime apparently fueled by racism
has led to an intense investigation tonight in Queens.
Police say three black men were savagely beaten
by a gang of white attackers at Howard Beach.
One of the victims, a 23-year-old construction worker,
was chased to his death.
[crowd chanting] Howard Beach, have you heard?
This is not Johannesburg.
Howard Beach, have you heard?
This is not Johannesburg!
[announcer] These residents insisted that their community
was being unfairly singled out.
"Why," they ask, "don't you come out here when blacks attack us?"
Whoa, whoa! Bring that man back here.
- [man 1] Off with the camera, man. - [man 2] Hey, I can't.
[chanting, indistinct]
The stuff I wrote in '88 is still relevant today.
In that script, I'm talking about gentrification, police brutality.
The film is still relevant.
[shouting]
[man] Dear Spike,
I lived on the west side of Chicago,
in one of the city's most violent neighborhoods.
When I was a teenager, I founded a street gang.
We sold drugs, robbed people at gunpoint and got into turf wars with our rival.
I grew up around crime and violence.
"It seemed normal to me."
And then, in 1984, I was arrested and sent to prison.
[siren wailing]
When I was inside, I had a lot of time to think.
I began to realize the role that I played in the destruction of my own neighborhood.
And I knew I needed to do something to make it right.
I was hungry to get my hands on anything to expose me to a better life.
And I heard about a young black filmmaker named Spike Lee.
Let me tell you the story of right hand, left hand.
It's a tale of good and evil.
- There it is, love and hate. - ["Fight the Power" playing]
I was immediately inspired by you and your work.
By telling these stories that no one else was telling,
you were giving black people their voice.
Your films made me truly understand the importance of community.
They made me say to myself, "You have work to do."
"'And you have to change what you have done.'"
When I was released from prison, they gave me $10 and a bus ticket,
and said, "Fend for yourself."
Luckily, I had a strong family support system.
They helped me connect with local organizers
so I could find a way to give back to my community.
I am now an intervention specialist with BUILD Chicago.
We work to keep kids out of gangs and away from violence
and help them reach their full potential.
[announcer] For Booney, abandoning his roots is not an option.
I had to come back to these places where I was part of the problem for so long
and be part of their solution.
Every day I talk to the kids in my old community.
Everywhere that we at, we got violence, we got drugs, everywhere we are.
So, we gotta get those things back intact.
Y'all gotta do it. Y'all gotta put in the footwork.
I tell them my own story and hope that it will have an impact on them.
And I use your films as a way to connect.
I want to leave a legacy of hope and empowerment,
as I work to turn my community into a safer and better place for everyone.
[audience cheering, applauding]
We've got five great films here,
but there is one film missing from this list that deserves to be on it,
because, ironically, it might tell the biggest truth of all.
And that's Do the Right Thing.
[Lee] Well, I think it's important for Hollywood to recognize
the gifts, the talents of people of color.
Historically, Hollywood did not want people of color,
did not want black people, specifically, and women.
It had been a constant battle.
[photographers] Spike! Spike!
[Lee] After Do the Right Thing, I understood that I had a little power.
And so, I was bringing as many motherfuckers in with me,
especially in the various jobs behind the camera.
When I started, my film company, 40 Acres,
from the very beginning, I wanted 40 Acres and a Mule to be a platform
for people to get in the industry.
People who were different, who can give us some insight.
Once this industry looks more like America,
people start to see things differently.
When you have a film about black people,
automatically white America thinks of rapists,
murderers, drug addicts, killers, all that stuff.
Those are the images that you've been led to believe,
that we are as a people.
To make real change,
we have to tell our story from our own particular perspective.
[woman] Dear Spike,
my father, Alan Wiggins, grew up very poor,
but he persevered and became a professional baseball player
for the San Diego Padres and the Baltimore Orioles.
As a black player, he faced prejudice and racism.
That rejection contributed to a cocaine addiction.
He died of AIDS in 1991, when I was just four years old.
It was hard not having my father in my life,
especially when I'd find news articles that only talked about his drug abuse.
As a distraction, I focused my attention on sports,
and I fell in love with the game of basketball.
When I was 11 years old, I went to see your film He Got Game.
In the movie, Denzel Washington is in prison.
But as the story unfolds, you realize there's so much more to his character,
and that he shouldn't be defined by the crime that put him behind bars.
[man] What, you some kind heathen now? You don't make no mistakes?
You be out here shooting, but you don't miss no shots ever? Ever?
People make mistakes. People veer off the path.
So what? God forgives them.
Has God forgiven you for killing my mother?
I pray that he has, son. I believe he has.
-When will you? -Never.
[woman] This forced me to look at my own life.
I realized that there was so much more to my father than just his addiction.
Your movie helped me open my heart.
"And heal those deep wounds.
I came out of that theater a different person."
That day, it became clear to me,
I wanted to become the greatest player in the WNBA.
I worked hard and never lost sight of my goal.
In 2004, I was offered a scholarship to play at Stanford.
Then my dream was realized when I was drafted by the WNBA.
After playing for several teams, I found myself at the top of my game,
playing for the New York Liberty.
I remember telling the Liberty PR team that I would know I had really made it
when Spike Lee showed up for one of our games.
It was my secret motivation to keep pushing forward.
Months later, I was on the court, warming up for a game,
and I saw your picture on the jumbotron.
Seeing you there gave me all the motivation I could ever need
to believe that anything is possible.
That day, I played the greatest game of my life,
shooting a perfect four-for-four from three-point range.
Knowing you were watching
was the highlight to my entire professional career.
I know there will never be anything that can or will replace the void
left behind from my father,
but if this letter proves anything, it's that one man can make a difference.
"For me, that man is you."
[applause]
I, for one, as a Muslim believe that the white man is intelligent enough.
If he were made to realize how black people really feel,
and how fed up we are without that old compromising sweet talk.
Stop sweet-talkin' him. Tell him how you feel.
I learned that the great director Norman Jewison
was signed to direct a film about Malcolm X.
And I let it be known publicly, like,
I don't know if Norman Jewison was the right director for this.
I don't feel that a Caucasian director
could do justice to this project, to this film.
To do this film, you need to have to do research.
[stammers] I spoke to hundreds of people that knew Malcolm,
and no way are they gonna open up to some white director
coming around sniffing around.
They're just not gonna do it.
So, Norman Jewison and I met, and he stepped aside.
And I have to give pride to Norman because he did not have to do that.
[man] Roll 77. Take one. Mark.
Quiet!
-[murmuring] -[man shouts, indistinct]
- [man 1] Roll sound. - [man 2] Rolling. Quiet, please.
-[man chants in Arabic] -[men repeat chant]
Cut.
Malcolm X was one of the great experiences I've ever had...
making a film.
Where's he at? Oh, there you are.
It was amazing to rediscover this great man.
This man who loved black people.
This man who loved humanity.
But what became a problem was the length.
Warner Brothers wanted a two-hour cut.
I needed three hours to tell the story of Malcolm X.
His entire evolution as a human being. Two hours wouldn't get that.
And so, we were shut down,
and I was up shit's creek without a paddle.
But I kept thinking about these two things
which Malcolm always talked about:
self-reliance, self-determination.
We don't teach hate. Mr. Muhammad teaches the truth.
And he teaches that our people should unite among ourselves
and try and solve our own problems.
And then, boom, it hit me.
I know black folks that got money.
Went down my list.
Janet Jackson. Prince. Tracy Chapman.
Miss Oprah Winfrey. Love you.
Peggy Cooper Cafritz.
Bill Cosby.
Magic.
Last person was the GOAT, the greatest player of all time,
Michael Jordan.
And people are writing checks, and they're happy to do it.
These prominent African Americans wrote big checks
so Spike Lee could finish Malcolm X the way he sees it.
[announcer] Most of the young people coming to this movie
are brought by their parents,
parents who earlier in the day took their kids out of school
and stood in long lines outside a theater that would become a classroom.
I believe that it will inspire a lot of people to do better in their ways.
Just... It's a powerful movie.
[Lee] Art is powerful.
And when a film really hits all levels,
the cinematography, the direction and the acting, it can take you there.
It just lifts you up, and you just have to say, "Damn."
Damn. [chuckles]
[man] Dear Spike...
I'm a Pakistani immigrant who grew up in Brooklyn in the 1980s.
I was from an immigrant Muslim family that struggled to make ends meet.
My childhood apartment was as much home to the mice of the neighborhood
as it was to us.
Like many other members of my community, I thought I would end up becoming a lawyer
or join some other stable profession.
Being raised in a poor family instilled a strong work ethic in me.
It was this trait that led me to an Ivy League school.
In 1989, I left for Dartmouth College.
It was a wonderful school,
but I started to feel isolated and lonely on this campus.
So in order to feel some personal power,
I began to cling to my ethnic and religious identity more and more.
I found a special connection to my spirituality outdoors in nature,
but at the same time, the more religious I became,
the more alone and isolated I felt from everyone around me.
Instead of faith being a bridge, it became a wall.
That all changed in 1992.
The day I saw Malcolm X, I was transformed.
In your portrayal of Malcolm's life, I saw my own journey.
"I realize that like Malcolm X, I had a choice to make."
I had a choice to make.
Would I live my life under the shadow of expectations
or would I embrace a new path
based on true self-empowerment through authenticity?
"'Cause of you and your film,
I walked away from one familiar path and chose another."
[man] I blazed a trail out west to pursue a career in filmmaking.
I am now a published author, professional screenwriter and producer.
Spike, you have had such profound influence on me,
both as a filmmaker and as a human being.
- [man on phone] Who am I speaking with? - This is David Duke.
Did you just say your name was David Duke?
I consider you a true white American hero.
Is there any other kind?
-[laughing] -No, sir. [chuckles]
I'm just happy to be talking to a true white American.
Amen.
[Lee] I think I've gotten better as a filmmaker.
I'd better be, I'm going into my fourth decade.
But still a lot of work needs to be done.
And it's a matter of finding new stories to tell
and finding new ways to tell those new stories.
With BlacKkKlansman,
we wanted this to have the look and feel of a period piece.
I mean, the '70s, but also that was contemporary at the same time.
David Duke, current grand wizard of the Klan,
but he's always in a three-piece suit.
Never seen in a hood or a robe in public.
That's what Duke is peddling now. It's becoming mainstream.
[Lee] There are people who think this happened a long time ago.
Not true.
Hail Trump. Hail our people. Hail victory.
[cheering, shouting]
Real warriors. Real America, the America that our ancestors fought and died for.
-America first. -America first.
[Lee] There's an urgency to this film. It's a call to action.
The 2020 presidential election is around the corner.
Let's all mobilize. Let's all be on the right side of history.
Make the moral choice between love versus hate.
Let's do the right thing.
You know I had to get that in there.
Now, I'm a tenured professor and also artistic director at NYU.
And what I try to tell my students, "Tell your story."
No one knows your story better than you.
Find your voice.
People talk about, "What is the takeaway of your film?"
Well, you hope that people discuss it, and it makes them think.
Thank you for motivating me to be the best version of myself.
Thank you for giving me the strength to allow my heart to guide me.
Thank you, Spike, for inspiring me
to become the university president that I am today.
Every person on this God's planet is unique.
We see things differently.
You all have a story to tell.
Thank you for your inspiration. Sincerely, Booney.
Assalamu alaikum, Kamran.
Sincerely, M. Christopher.
Sincerely, Candice.