This past Friday, the 61st Chicago International Film Festival (CIFF) honored decorated director and cinematic trailblazer Spike Lee with its Lifetime Achievement Award.
It’s no secret Lee has opposed the big-name award show that rules the land, boycotting the Oscars in 2016 for failing to nominate any Black actors for the second year in a row.
It’s also no secret that Lee is considered the world’s most famous and most dedicated New York Knicks fan. He has been sitting courtside at Madison Square Garden during home games for the Knicks for decades now.
Lee attended the Chicago festival, even though the Knicks were playing the rival Boston Celtics back at home. Greeting him on the red carpet was Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and movie star Delroy Lindo, who famously played Woody Carmichael in Lee’s Crooklyn, as well as taking roles in Lee’s Malcolm X , Clockers, and Da 5 Bloods.
“This is a great festival, a lot of my friends are here,” Lee told The TRiiBE on the CIFF’s red carpet. “You know what’s a testament of what I think about this festival? The New York Knicks are playing the Boston Celtics tonight in the world’s most famous arena, Madison Square Garden, and I’m here. So that’s your answer right there.”
On Friday, the film festival screened the new Spike Lee joint, Highest 2 Lowest, featuring Denzel Washington, Jeffrey Wright, and A$AP Rocky. The film is a remake of the 1963 Japanese film High and Low, and is the fifth collaboration between Lee and Washington.
Later that day, Lee received CIFF’s Lifetime Achievement Award at the “Evening with Spike Lee. In Conversation with Dr. Jacqueline Stewart” at the AMC 14 NewCity.
“You made us shine. You made us grow. You made the film industry a better place for all of us to work in,” legendary actor and frequent collaborator Samuel L. Jackson said in a tribute video that kicked off the ceremonial evening.
The tribute video included more of Lee’s friends: fellow director and collaborator Ernest Dickerson, and actor John Leguizamo.
Dickerson said the first time he came to Chicago was when he and Lee shot the iconic commercials for a 1988 Nike campaign for the Jordan Brand. The commercials featured Michael Jordan himself, and Lee portrayed his Do The Right Thing character Mars Blackmon.
“That’s kind of why this award means as much to me as well because we grew up together, cinematically speaking,” he said during the tribute. “Making a film was like going to war, you were the General, I was your Lieutenant General. This award is proof positive of the victories that we won together.”
Entering the global cinema canon with She’s Gotta Have It in 1986, Lee displayed his talent and drive, shooting the film in 12 days with a budget of only $175,000.
For over thirty years, he has continued to use his films to bring awareness to the issues that affect Black communities. He has always spoken up and found ways to bring his films to life despite the Hollywood powers that have continuously controlled the film industry.
Lee helped to establish the festival’s Black Perspectives program in 1997 along with the organization Cinema Chicago. That same year, Lee held a screening at the festival for his newest documentary, 4 Little Girls, which is about a 1963 bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, which killed four young Black girls.
Lee’s work has inspired generations of filmmakers like Jordan Peele, Issa Rae and Ryan Coogler, giving a modern blueprint to unapologetically telling Black stories.
The TRiiBE asked Lee about this on the red carpet. He humbly rejects the notion, saying “I don’t believe that, because Sidney Poitier, Harry Belafonte, it’s a continuation.”
“Ryan’s film, Sinners, that was the bomb, is the bomb,” Lee said. “We’re friends too, it’s not petty or none of that stuff, we’re cheering and rooting for everybody.”
Lee’s new film, Highest 2 Lowest, is set in New York, mostly shot in Brooklyn’s Fort Greene neighborhood that he grew up in. Fort Greene is also the current location of his 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks production company.
Lee continues to big up his city and his neighborhood. He took the moment to briefly gloat.
“You know where Michael Jordan was born? He was born in Brooklyn! Fort Greene! Cumberland Hospital! In my neighborhood! You know who was born there too? Mike Tyson and Bernard Albert King. What! WHAT!?”
The Chicago International Film Festival is North America’s longest-running competitive film festival. This year, the event ran from Oct. 15-26, and featured over 100 films and 11 short films from over 60 different countries.
