The great filmmaker of New York life, Spike Lee, has achieved something no other black person has ever done. Spike Lee President of the Film Festival de Cannes France 2021.
Spike Lee is wearing the Rolex Daytona timepiece with a Rubber B velcro strap. Rubber B is proud to have designed a unique strap to honor the great Spike Lee and his lifetime achievements. This strap is a unique one of a kind collaboration with Lee which is in New York Knickerbocker Orange and utilizes a Velcro clasp.
This is bound to shake things up at the historically significant Film Festival since Lee has no filter and says what is on his mind.
Spike Lee has an extensive resume. He is an actor, director, producer, screenwriter and professor. He has produced more than 35 films. But it is his writing and directing that he is best known for. His debut She’s Gotta Have It (1986) as a director put him on the map and started his illustrious career.
He wrote and directed highly regarded films as Do the Right Thing (1989), Mo’ Better Blues (1990), Jungle Fever (1991), and Malcolm X (1992). He recently wrote and directed the films BlacKkKlansman (2018) and Da 5 Bloods (2020). Lee also acted in several of his films. Generally, he isn’t thought of as an actor, but his roles are often more significant than a mere cameo appearance.
Spike Lee has created a new genre of films that focus on race relations and urban life which involves politics, crime, and poverty in the black community. He has won extensive awards including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, two Emmy’s, two Peabody’s, and a Cannes Grand Prix.
Lee has hit commercial success with Inside Man (2006) which made nearly 200 million off of a 46 million dollar budget. This stared Clive Owens, Jodie Foster, William Dafoe and one of Lee’s great collaborators – Denzel Washington who played Malcolm X in his adaptation of the self-named autobiography.
Lee is an acclaimed professor. He has taught at Harvard and currently is a tenured professor at NYU Tisch School of the Arts in the Graduate Film Program. In 2002 he was appointed as artistic director of the school.
Spike Lee has also been approached to direct commercials for Nike, Converse, Jaguar, Taco Bell and Ben & Jerry’s.
Lee is an icon of New York life. He not only lives and works in the big city, but he could be seen on the sideline at Madison Square Garden for most home games for the New York Knicks.
Spike Lee President of the Film Festival de Cannes France 2021
It is history in the making with Spike Lee President of the Film Festival de Cannes France 2021. Lee has been seen at Cannes for many years. His films have been viewed and won several Cannes awards over the years. His experience as a professor and long resume of both financially successful and socially significant filmography makes him a unique addition to Cannes.
Spike Lee wasted no time to use his new platform to talk about “World Dictators” whom he listed as Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump and Jair Bolsinaro of Brazil. He also commented on how his film Do the Right Thing is just as pertinent today as it was 30 years ago, noting the similarities of the death of George Floyd and the character Radio Raheem who are both killed by police.
This is the 74th annual Cannes Film Festival. The festival has been the center stage for some of the best filmography worldwide. It is historically significant since it isn’t ruled by the chokehold of the film industry such as Hollywood elites. The Festival offers a new stage that isn’t built only on box office success. International movies, movies made with minorities, movies with women, and movies that have good stories often dominate. Winning or even coming close can be a financial windfall for struggling artists and directors of these films.
Spike Lee is joined by Mati Diop, Jessica Hausner, Melanie Laurent, and Kleber Mendonca Filho, Mylene Farmer, Tahar Rahim, and Song Kang-ho to select the top films of 2021.
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