Spike Lee

Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American filmmaker and actor. His work explores issues including race relations, issues within the black community, the role of media in contemporary life, urban crime and poverty. Lee has received numerous accolades including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, two Primetime Emmy Award,and three Peabody Awards as well as nominations for three Golden Globe Awards and a Grammy Award. Various publications have cited him as one of the most important filmmakers of the late 20th century.

Lee studied filmmaking at Morehouse College and New York University Tisch School of the Arts, where he directed the student film Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads (1983), which won a Student Academy Award. Under his production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, he has produced more than 35 films. Lee made his directorial debut with the comedy She's Gotta Have It (1986) and received 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), which was nominated for the Berlin International Film Festival's Golden Bear. With the biographical crime dramedy BlacKkKlansman (2018), he won the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and the Cannes Film Festival Grand Prix Award.