The Bite Magazine - Spring/Summer 2023 - Issue 33

bitefilmawards As a pioneering Black filmmaker, Spike Lee laid the foundation for a new generation of Black directors, including Ryan Coogler ( Black Pan- ther ), Jordan Peele ( Get Out ), Barry Jenkins ( Moonlight ) and Ava DuVernay ( Selma ). In 2015, he received an Honorary Oscar for life- time achievement and contribution to the mo- tion picture arts and sciences. Three years later, BlacKkKlansman won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival and, the following year, an Oscar and Bafta for Best Adapted Screen- play. In 2021, Lee was named President of the Jury at the 74th Cannes Film Festival. Besides his historic cinematic career, Lee has produced and directed music videos for leg- endary artists such as Prince, Stevie Wonder, Public Enemy, Arrested Development, Chaka Khan, Naughty by Nature and Bruce Horns- by. He also conducted commercial work with the Nike Air Jordan campaign in 1988. In ad- dition, his Michael Jackson documentaries, BAD 25 (2012) and the original Off the Wall (2016), were critically acclaimed. Spike Lee di- rected and produced American Utopia (2020), the concert film conceived from David Byrne's Broadway performance of the show and album of the same name (which screened nationwide at the BFI London Film Festival). The director has combined his extensive crea- tive experience into another venture with DDB Needham to create Spike/DDB, a full-service advertising agency. He also authored several books, including Five for Five , a pictorial re- flection of his first five features; Best Seat in the House with American journalist Ralph Wiley; and two children's books, Please, Baby, Please and Please, Puppy, Please, co-authored with his wife, Tonya Lewis Lee. In 1991, Spike Lee start- ed teaching a course on filmmaking at Harvard University. After receiving his BFI Fellowship at the awards ceremony, Lee said: "I've been coming to Eng- land since 1986 for She's Gotta Have It. I have nothing but good memories of being here in London, and I'm honoured to join the great list of BFI Fellows and filmmakers. We all have something in common, we love cinema, and this history keeps it going through tough times, rough times, and I appreciate the invite which acknowledges this great art form of cinema.” Clive Owen said, “It's [tough] for someone un- der a certain age to comprehend the impact of Spike's early work. His early films introduced people to a world that hadn't been seen in the cinema before; they were groundbreaking. Along comes this guy who was making films about the world he knew. Fearless, unapolo- getic, with bags of attitude, humour and intel- ligence. He scared people; he was a true trail- blazer. He continued, “This is a director that will be held not only as one of the most important Images courtesy of BFI Southbank