Filmmaker Spike Lee to speak at University of Memphis

Spike Lee

Spike Lee

Producer, director, writer, actor and provocateur Spike Lee will give a free public talk on the image of black America and the politics of film and media at 7:30 p.m. March 17 in the Michael D. Rose Theatre at the University of Memphis.

Spike Lee

Spike Lee

Lee’s Oscar-aftermath talk is perfectly timed for a movie season that has seen much debate about the portrayal of black characters in three of this year’s Best Picture nominees, “The Blind Side,” “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” and “District 9.”

The Atlanta-born Lee first found fame with his low-budget indie production, “She’s Gotta Have It” (1986), in which he introduced the comic “Mars Blackmon” role he popularized in a series of Nike commercials. His “Do the Right Thing” (1989) generally is regarded as one of the more significant movies of the past 20 years. Other Lee movies include “Jungle Fever,” “Malcolm X” and the Katrina documentary, “When the Levees Broke: A Requieum in Four Acts.”

The event is sponsored by the Kappa Eta chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity and the Student Event Allocations Committee.

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