Spike Lee

Directing·Mar 20, 1957·Atlanta, Georgia, USA

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Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American filmmaker and actor. His work has continually explored race relations, issues within the black community, the role of media in contemporary life, urban crime and poverty, and other political issues. Lee received numerous accolades for his work, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, and two Peabody Awards as well as nominations for three Golden Globe Awards and a Grammy Award. Lee studied filmmaking at both Morehouse College and the New York University Tisch School of the Arts, where he directed his student film Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads (1983), which won a Student Academy Award. He later founded the production company 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, where he has produced more than 35 films. He made his directorial debut with the comedy She's Gotta Have It (1986). He received widespread critical acclaim for the drama Do the Right Thing (1989), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. He directed the historical epic Malcolm X (1992), earning the Golden Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival. With the biographical crime dramedy BlacKkKlansman (2018), he won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and the Cannes Film Festival Grand Prix Award. He has also written and directed films such as School Daze (1988), Mo' Better Blues (1990), Jungle Fever (1991), Crooklyn (1994), Clockers (1995), Bamboozled (2000), 25th Hour (2002), Inside Man (2006), Chi-Raq (2015), Da 5 Bloods (2020), and Highest 2 Lowest (2025). Lee has also acted in eleven of his feature films. He is also known for directing numerous documentary projects, including 4 Little Girls (1997), which was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film. He directed the HBO series When the Levees Broke (2006), which won two Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Directing for a Documentary/Nonfiction Program and Exceptional Merit in Documentary Filmmaking. He also directed the HBO documentary If God Is Willing and da Creek Don't Rise (2010) and the David Byrne concert film American Utopia (2020). Lee has received several honours, including the Honorary BAFTA Award in 2002, an Honorary César in 2003, the Academy Honorary Award in 2015, and the National Medal of Arts in 2023. Five of his films have been selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". He has received a Gala Tribute from the Film Society of Lincoln Center as well as the Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize. His films have featured breakthrough performances from actors such as Denzel Washington, Laurence Fishburne, Samuel L. Jackson, Giancarlo Esposito, Rosie Perez, Delroy Lindo, John Turturro, and John David Washington. Description above from the Wikipedia article Spike Lee, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Film	Credit
Highest 2 Lowest2025 · Director	Director
David Byrne's American Utopia2020 · Director, Producer	Director, Producer
Da 5 Bloods2020 · Writer, Producer, Director	Writer, Producer, Director
3 Brothers: Radio Raheem, Eric Garner and George Floyd2020 · Director	Director
New York New York2020 · Director	Director
Land of the Free2019 · Director	Director
BlacKkKlansman2018 · Writer, Director, Producer	Writer, Director, Producer
Pass Over2018 · Producer, Director	Producer, Director
Rodney King2017 · Director, Producer	Director, Producer
Be Truly Free2017 · Narrator (voice), Director	Narrator (voice), Director
2 Fists Up2016 · Director, Producer	Director, Producer
Michael Jackson's Journey from Motown to Off the Wall2016 · Director	Director
Chi-Raq2015 · Writer, Director, Producer	Writer, Director, Producer
Spike Lee's Lil' Joints: The Greatest Catch Ever2015 · Director	Director
Da Sweet Blood of Jesus2015 · Screenplay, Director, Producer	Screenplay, Director, Producer
Ray Allen/AKA- Jesus Shuttlesworth2015 · Actor, Director	Actor, Director
TThrow Like A Girl2014 · Director	Director
Jerrod Carmichael: Love at the Store2014 · Director	Director
Do The Right Thing 25 Year Anniversary A Beats Music Experience2014 · Director	Director
Katt Williams: Priceless: Afterlife2014 · Director, Producer	Director, Producer
AAmex Unstaged Pharrell Williams Live at the Apollo2014 · Director	Director
II Can't Breathe2014 · Director, Writer	Director, Writer
Mike Tyson: Undisputed Truth2013 · Director	Director
Oldboy2013 · Director	Director
Bad 252012 · Director	Director
Red Hook Summer2012 · Mr. Mookie, Director, Screenplay, Producer	Mr. Mookie, Director, Screenplay, Producer
Passing Strange2009 · Director	Director
Do the Right Thing: 20 Years Later2009 · Director	Director
Kobe Doin' Work2009 · Producer, Director	Producer, Director
Miracle at St. Anna2008 · Director, Producer	Director, Producer
Inside Man2006 · Director	Director
All the Invisible Children2006 · Director, Producer	Director, Producer
Jesus Children of America2005 · Director	Director
Sucker Free City2004 · Director	Director
She Hate Me2004 · Director, Screenplay, Producer	Director, Screenplay, Producer
25th Hour2002 · Producer, Director	Producer, Director
Ten Minutes Older: The Trumpet2002 · Director, Producer	Director, Producer
Jim Brown: All-American2002 · Director, Producer	Director, Producer
Come Rain or Come Shine2001 · Director of Photography, Director	Director of Photography, Director
The Concert for New York City2001 · Director, Director of Photography	Director, Director of Photography
A Huey P. Newton Story2001 · Director	Director
The Making of 'Bamboozled'2001 · Director	Director
Bamboozled2000 · Director, Screenplay, Producer	Director, Screenplay, Producer
The Original Kings of Comedy2000 · Director, Producer	Director, Producer
Bernie Mac: Live from Charlotte2000 · Director	Director
Summer of Sam1999 · John Jeffries, Director, Writer, Producer	John Jeffries, Director, Writer, Producer
Pavarotti & Friends 99 for Guatemala and Kosovo1999 · Director	Director
John Leguizamo: Freak1998 · Director	Director
Pavarotti & Friends - For the Children of Liberia1998 · Director	Director
He Got Game1998 · Screenplay, Producer, Director	Screenplay, Producer, Director
4 Little Girls1997 · Interviewer (voice) (uncredited), Director, Producer, Writer	Interviewer (voice) (uncredited), Director, Producer, Writer
HIStory on Film, Volume II1997 · Director	Director
Get on the Bus1996 · Director	Director
Girl 61996 · Jimmy, Director, Producer	Jimmy, Director, Producer
Lumière & Company1995 · Director	Director
Clockers1995 · Chucky, Director, Screenplay, Producer	Chucky, Director, Screenplay, Producer
Crooklyn1994 · Snuffy, Director, Producer, Screenplay	Snuffy, Director, Producer, Screenplay
Malcolm X1992 · Shorty, Director, Screenplay, Producer	Shorty, Director, Screenplay, Producer
Prince and the N.P.G.: Diamonds and Pearls Video Collection1992 · Director	Director
Jungle Fever1991 · Cyrus, Producer, Director, Writer	Cyrus, Producer, Director, Writer
SSpike Lee Presents Mike Tyson1990 · Director	Director
Mo' Better Blues1990 · Giant, Writer, Director, Producer	Giant, Writer, Director, Producer
Spike & Co.: Do It a Cappella1990 · Actor, Director	Actor, Director
Do the Right Thing1989 · Mookie, Screenplay, Producer, Director	Mookie, Screenplay, Producer, Director
School Daze1988 · Darrell 'Half-Pint' Dunlap, Writer, Director, Producer	Darrell 'Half-Pint' Dunlap, Writer, Director, Producer
Horn of Plenty1986 · Director, Writer	Director, Writer
She's Gotta Have It1986 · Mars Blackmon, Director, Writer, Producer	Mars Blackmon, Director, Writer, Producer
Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads1983 · Director, Writer, Producer	Director, Writer, Producer
SSarah1981 · Director	Director
The Answer1980 · Director	Director
BonerWriter, Director, Producer	Writer, Director, Producer