The Oscar-winning filmmaker talked about the late Chadwick Boseman with Ryan Coogler, touched on his legacy with Jodie Foster and received honors from Rosie Perez, Angela Bassett and the cast of ‘Da 5 Bloods’.
In a normal year, the American Cinematheque marquee for fundraising would have been a flashy event with big stars, a crowded red carpet and rolls of elegant clips. The initial anecdotes would have flowed from the stage as heavily as champagne, and the event would have ended with a gracious acceptance speech from the only honoree of the night.
With the COVID-19 pandemic still on the rise, this is not a normal time. Los Angeles, home to American Cinematheque and its event, remains the epicenter of the outbreak, so large-scale meetings have been rejected. The organization, like so many others, opted for a virtual presentation on Thursday night to honor Spike Lee with the 34th American Cinematheque Award.
In doing so, event producers changed the format. Oscar winner and former American Cinematheque honoree Jodie Foster served as a presenter and was also tasked with moderating a long question and answer session with Lee, which lasted nearly 90 minutes. It was interspersed with casual conversations that matched many of Lee’s collaborators and concluded with the delivery of Lee’s latest cast award, Netflix Da 5 Bloods, with Jonathan Majors, Delroy Lindo, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Clarke Peters and Norm Lewis.
“There are filmmakers who create entertainment for the world and there are those who make comments for our world,” said Majors. “Personally, I don’t know anyone else who so naturally and so honestly creates both.” Majors then said it was time to hand over the trophy, but not manually because “Dr. Fauci says that”.
Lee, casually dressed in a bucket hat and his trademark glasses, kept his speech short and sweet. He thanked all employees in front and behind the camera for four decades. “You know I love you,” he said, adding, “Thank you for the support you have given me over the years. We will continue.”
That ended the show, but no one could blame Lee for keeping it brief because, by then, his questions and answers with Foster had covered a lot of ground. After praising the work of her “magnificent” friend as a filmmaker, teacher and social commentator, Foster, who starred in her 2006 film Inner man, asked Lee what it is like to receive something like a prize for the whole work. “I am 63 years old,” he said, looking at his birthday as March 20, 1957, the first day of spring. “Here’s the thing: if you love what you’re doing, you can delay Father Time. I have a few more joints to do.”
He has done more than two dozen and Foster asked Lee to summarize his approach to the legacy. “From the beginning, I wanted to build a body of work because I realized that the great artists I loved improved their body of work. It wasn’t just one and that’s it, ”he replied. “They kept working on their craft, working on their craft, working on the craft. For me, that was the model.”
She also asked about receiving her work and Lee said she knows that many of her films did not reach audiences immediately, citing Bamboozled and 25th hour as examples. But “sooner or later, people will recover,” he added. Lee also said he learned how to work well with actors in his third film, Do the right thing. He credited School Daze Laurence Fishburne for providing valuable information about the process. “We had some discussions and he was dissatisfied with my language for him and other actors because he felt, rightly, that I wasn’t giving them what they needed. But I didn’t know anything.”
Although Fishburne was not on the program, contributors to some of his best-known works were. Those who came together to discuss Lee’s impact and influence included Malcolm X editor Barry Alexander Brown with Jungle Fever editor Sam Pollard; Clockers casting director Robi Reed with BlacKkKlansman casting director Kim Coleman; Mo ‘Better Blues director of photography Ernest Dickerson with 4 girls DP Ellen Kuras; Do the right thing producers Monty Ross and Jon Kilik; Bamboozled costume designer Ruth E. Carter with She has to have production designer Wynn Thomas; and Chi-Raq star Angela Bassett with Da 5 Bloods star Delroy Lindo.
Also appeared was Black Panther director Ryan Coogler, who joined Foster and Lee for a quick turnout. Both Coogler and Lee worked with the late Chadwick Boseman and it was Lee who said he needed to resolve this. “You know, I haven’t talked about Chad publicly other than writing a few words,” said Coogler. “I loved him. I miss him. His talent was so potent that even though he was with us for a limited period of time, he gave us a lot, a lot. He gave us an infinite amount of gifts.”
Coogler asked Lee why education was so important to him throughout his career. The former Morehouse and NYU student, who currently teaches at the film school, said he comes from a long line of teachers (his mother and grandmother) and this continues to improve his life. “I always thought that if you are a teacher or a teacher and you are not learning from your students, you are teaching.”
Rosie Perez, who starred in Do the right thing, focused his comments on how Lee combined social commentary with a real commitment to philanthropy. “Spike Lee’s narrative goes beyond the page or the screen to his community, his culture and the people with whom he shares this world, people affected by natural disasters, people who need better education, medical care, quality of life for the generation older and the younger generation’s need to take a step forward in life. It’s no secret that when Spike Lee has something to say, he speaks out loud, believe me, but the difference is that he usually speaks for others, no by itself. “