Spike Lee, renowned director of films such as Malcolm X, Do the Right Thing, BlacKkKlansman and Highest 2 Lowest, received a career achievement award for his contributions to black cinema and the art form as a whole.
Ryan Coogler, director of films such as Black Panther, Sinners and Creed, presented the award to Lee. He received the director award for Sinners earlier in the night. Before handing off the award to Lee, he sated, “I want to thank the association for this celebration because this gives me the opportunity to publicly thank this man for changing my life before he knew me, for being so generous with his time, for being a teacher, for being an activist and for having the bravery to fight these fights for us so I could come behind him and stand on his shoulders.” Spike Lee responded by reminiscing on his reaction to seeing Sinners for the first time. He said, “They’re never going to invite me to another screening because I was acting like I was courtside at The Garden.”
Spike Lee released Highest 2 Lowest earlier this year for A24 and Apple TV, a reimagining of the classic Akira Kurosawa film High and Low. It starred Denzel Washington, an actor who has become synonymous with a lot of Lee’s work. Lee has been nominated for several Oscars, including one win for BlacKkKlansman for Best Adapted Screenplay. The director has several more films in the works, so he is not going away anytime soon.
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