Directing
Spike Lee
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.
Filmography
AFI Life Achievement Award: A Tribute to Eddie Murphy
Film · 2026
Sophie Marceau, à voix haute
Film · 2026
Ladies & Gentlemen... 50 Years of SNL Music
Film · 2025
Mr. Scorsese
Series · 2025
13 Steps - Die unglaubliche Karriere von Edwin Moses
Film · 2024
Hollywood Black
Series · 2024
Samuel L. Jackson: Did I Stutter?
Film · 2023
The Moviemakers: Spike Lee
Film · 2023
A Daughter's Tribute to Her Father: Souleymane Cissé
Film · 2022
Sidney
Film · 2022
Denzel Washington: A Model American
Film · 2022
Gold Blooded
Film · 2022
They Call Me Magic
Series · 2022
Chadwick Boseman: Portrait of an Artist
Film · 2021
A Choice of Weapons: Inspired by Gordon Parks
Film · 2021
Pretend It's a City
Series · 2021
This Is Pop
Series · 2021
Directors on Directors
Series · 2021
Dear...
Series · 2020
The Tamron Hall Show
Series · 2019
Desus & Mero
Series · 2019
Breslin and Hamill: Deadline Artists
Film · 2018
Unbanned: The Legend of AJ1
Film · 2018
Basketball: A Love Story
Series · 2018
Be Truly Free
Film · 2017
Birth of a Movement
Film · 2017
Plankton Salesmen
Film · 2017
She's Gotta Have It
Series · 2017
Michael Jackson's Journey from Motown to Off the Wall
Film · 2016
Champs
Film · 2015
French Cinema Mon Amour
Film · 2015
Director Spike Lee's New York City
Film · 2015
Ray Allen/AKA- Jesus Shuttlesworth
Film · 2015
Spike Lee's Lil' Joints: The Greatest Catch Ever
Film · 2015
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Series · 2015
Close Up with The Hollywood Reporter
Series · 2015
Do The Right Thing 25 Year Anniversary A Beats Music Experience
Film · 2014
We the People: From Crispus Attucks to President Barack Obama
Film · 2014
Life's Essentials with Ruby Dee
Film · 2014
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Series · 2014
Late Night with Seth Meyers
Series · 2014
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Series · 2014
The Men in Blazers Show
Series · 2014
Brooklyn Boheme
Film · 2012
Bad 25
Film · 2012
Yo! The Story of ‘Yo! MTV Raps’
Film · 2012
Red Hook Summer
Film · 2012
Guest
Film · 2011
A Man's Story
Film · 2011
On the Shoulders of Giants
Film · 2011
Winning Time: Reggie Miller vs. The New York Knicks
Film · 2010
Four Days in October
Film · 2010
Who Do You Think You Are?
Series · 2010
PoliWood
Film · 2009
Do the Right Thing: 20 Years Later
Film · 2009
Kobe Doin' Work
Film · 2009
40 x 15: The Forty Years of the Directors' Fortnight
Film · 2008
Beyond Wiseguys: Italian Americans & the Movies
Film · 2008
Pixote In Memoriam
Film · 2007
Lights, Action, Music
Film · 2007
Street Fight
Film · 2005
By Any Means Necessary: The Making of 'Malcolm X'
Film · 2005
How to Eat Your Watermelon in White Company (and Enjoy It)
Film · 2005
Life O' The Party: On the Road with Prince and the New Power Generation
Film · 2005
Through the Fire
Film · 2005
It's the Shoes
Series · 2005
Best Sellers or: Peter Sellers and 'Dr. Strangelove'
Film · 2004
No Fighting in the War Room Or: 'Dr Strangelove' and the Nuclear Threat
Film · 2004
Five Directors On The Battle of Algiers
Film · 2004
The Evolution of an American Filmmaker
Film · 2003
Real Time with Bill Maher
Series · 2003
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Series · 2003
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
Series · 2003
New York at the Movies
Film · 2002
It's Black Entertainment
Film · 2002
The Making and Meaning of 'We Are Family'
Film · 2002
Johnny Vaughan Tonight
Series · 2002
3 A.M.
Film · 2001
The Making of 'Bamboozled'
Film · 2001
Michael Jordan to the Max
Film · 2000
Lisa Picard Is Famous
Film · 2000
Summer of Sam
Film · 1999
The Early Show
Series · 1999
4 Little Girls
Film · 1997
The View
Series · 1997
The Chris Rock Show
Series · 1997
When We Were Kings
Film · 1996
Girl 6
Film · 1996
The Fine Art of Separating People from Their Money
Film · 1996
The Universal Story
Film · 1996
The Daily Show
Series · 1996
Clockers
Film · 1995
Below the Rim
Film · 1995
Lumière & Company
Film · 1995
Crooklyn
Film · 1994
Hoop Dreams
Film · 1994
A Century of Cinema
Film · 1994
Drop Squad
Film · 1994
Inside the Actors Studio
Series · 1994
The Last Party
Film · 1993
Seven Songs for Malcolm X
Film · 1993
Farewell, Babylon!
Film · 1993
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Series · 1993
Late Show with David Letterman
Series · 1993
Malcolm X
Film · 1992
Our Hollywood Education
Film · 1992
Ghostwriter
Series · 1992
Ghostwriter
Series · 1992
Jungle Fever
Film · 1991
MTV's 10th Anniversary Special
Film · 1991
Sous les marches du palais
Film · 1991
Branford Marsalis: Steep
Film · 1991
Lonely in America
Film · 1990
Mo' Better Blues
Film · 1990
Spike & Co. Do It a-Cappella
Film · 1990
Spike & Co.: Do It a Cappella
Film · 1990
In Living Color
Series · 1990
Do the Right Thing
Film · 1989
Making 'Do the Right Thing'
Film · 1989
First Works
Film · 1989
Decade
Film · 1989
Public Enemy: Fight the Power... Live!
Film · 1989
School Daze
Film · 1988
Yo! MTV Raps
Series · 1988
She's Gotta Have It
Film · 1986
The South Bank Show
Series · 1978
Saturday Night Live
Series · 1975
Saturday Night Live
Series · 1975
The American Film Institute Salute to ...
Series · 1973
Great Performances
Series · 1971
Film '72
Series · 1971
The Oscars
Series · 1953
The Oscars
Series · 1953