Note to editors: To reserve media seating please call Leticia Konigsberg
in the Office of External Communications at 713/743-8152. At Lee’s
request there will be no media interviews.
SPIKE LEE TO ADDRESS BLACK
HISTORY THROUGH FILM
DURING CAMPUS LECTURE AT UH
As a founding figure in the New Black Cinema, Spike Lee has been
instrumental in ensuring that African- American filmmakers play
a leading role in shaping the representation of blacks on the screen.
Equally important, he is known to be a powerful force in using film
to expand the public’s historical consciousness.
Lee will visit with students at the University of Houston Ezekiel
Cullen Performance Hall at 7:30 p.m., Monday, Feb. 16, 2004, to
address history through film in commemoration of Black History Month.
His presentation, “The Filmmaker as Historian,” will
serve as a catalyst for campus discussions about such topics as
independent film; history and cinema; political commitment and movie
making.
“I trust Spike Lee will inspire students to engage in the
creative and popular arts and to better understand that film is
not merely entertainment, but carries profound political and ideological
meanings,” said Steven Mintz, UH professor of history and
coordinator of event.
After graduating from Morehouse College, Shelton “Spike”
Lee entered New York University’s Institute of Film and Television,
where he won the 1982 Student Academy award for his film, “Joe’s
Bed-Sty Barbershop: We Cut Heads.” He went on to win the Los
Angeles Film Critics New Generation award and the Prix de Jeuness
at the Cannes Film Festival for his 1986 hit film “She’s
Gotta Have It.” Lee followed this with “School Daze,”
a musical comedy about color and class-consciousness among African-American
college students. Other films include “Mo’ Better Blues,
Jungle Fever,” “Do the Right Thing,” “Malcolm
X,” “Clockers,” and “Girl 6.”
This lecture was funded by PATH: The Project for the Active Teaching
of History (a partnership between the UH History Department and
College of Education, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and Region
IV Education Service Center); Tenneco Lecture Series; University
Advancement; African American Studies; the American Cultures Program;
Student Program Board; and the Council of Ethnic Organizations.
WHO: |
Filmmaker Spike Lee |
WHAT: |
“The Filmmaker as Historian” |
WHEN: |
7:30 p.m., Monday, Feb. 16, 2004 |
WHERE: |
Ezekiel Cullen Performance Hall
The University of Houston
Entrance 1 off University Drive and Calhoun Road |
For more information about UH visit the universitys Newsroom at www.uh.edu/admin/media/newsroom.
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