Zitat des Tages von Spike Lee:
A lot of times you get credit for stuff in your movies you didn't intend to be there.
Any film I do is not going to change the way black women have been portrayed, or black people have been portrayed, in cinema since the days of D.W. Griffith.
I don't dictate, you don't dictate to Stevie Wonder, not successfully.
All directors are storytellers, so the motivation was to tell the story I wanted to tell. That's what I love.
We grew up in a very creative environment and were exposed to the arts at a very young age, so it's not a surprise that all of us are in some form of the arts.
Fight the power that be. Fight the power.
Don't think that because you haven't heard from me for a while that I went to sleep. I am still here, like a spirit roaming the night. Thirsty, hungry, seldom stopping to rest.
'Do the Right Thing' was my first union film. I looked at the rosters, and for the most part, it was white males. Especially the Teamsters. So we had some conversations.
I like to work with the same people when I can, and you want to get people with the same interests that you have, and the same aesthetic.
Since the days of slavery, if you were a good singer or dancer, it was your job to perform for the master after dinner.
I think it is very important that films make people look at what they've forgotten.
I think it would be very boring dramatically to have a film where everybody was a lawyer or doctor and had no faults. To me, the most important thing is to be truthful.
If we became students of Malcolm X, we would not have young black men out there killing each other like they're killing each other now. Young black men would not be impregnating young black women at the rate going on now. We'd not have the drugs we have now, or the alcoholism.
Violence is a part of America. I don't want to single out rap music. Let's be honest. America's the most violent country in the history of the world, that's just the way it is. We're all affected by it.
I'd like to state that Spike Lee is not saying that African American culture is just for black people alone to enjoy and cherish. Culture is for everybody.
I think people who have faults are a lot more interesting than people who are perfect.
Right now a lot of people are still choosing to go to Toronto instead of shooting in New York City, something I haven't done and something I hope I'll never have to do.
First of all, what in this world does not revolve around money? But money is a big part of film, unlike a lot of other art forms.
It comes down to this: black people were stripped of our identities when we were brought here, and it's been a quest since then to define who we are.
A lot of times, we censor ourselves before the censor even gets there.
I get offered to do stuff where the money's nice but it's not something I want to do - I get offered a lot of commercials too.
I'm just trying to tell a good story and make thought-provoking, entertaining films. I just try and draw upon the great culture we have as a people, from music, novels, the streets.
Everything I do is always scrutinised. But that's all I'll say about that.
Amongst black people, you have always heard it said that once a black man reaches a certain level, especially if you are an entertainer, you get a white trophy woman. I didn't make that up.
I think my work shows that I love women. I understand where these types of criticisms are coming from because black people have been so dogged out in the media, they're just extra sensitive.
I don't get tripped up in technology. I use technology as a tool. 'Oldboy' we shot Two Pro 35mm. For 'Da Blood of Jesus,' we shot digitally. We shot the new Sony F55. It's a 4K camera.
There's a lot of Americans, black and white, who think that we've arrived where we need to be and nothing else needs to be done and affirmative action needs to be dismantled.
My cousin Malcolm Lee is also a filmmaker.
I am very fortunate I can send my kids to private school, but everybody does not have the money. If you cannot get your kid in a good school today, your kids are going to be behind the eight ball.
I don't like acting; not in front of the camera.
I always give the example, if you turn on the radio today, black radio, Lenny Kravitz is not black. Bob Marley wasn't black: in the beginning, only white college stations played Bob Marley.
People of color have a constant frustration of not being represented, or being misrepresented, and these images go around the world.
I think that every minority in the United States of America knows everything about the dominant culture. From the time you can think, you are bombarded with images from TV, film, magazines, newspapers.
I live in New York City, the stories of my films take place in New York; I'm a New York filmmaker.
I respect the audience's intelligence a lot, and that's why I don't try to go for the lowest common denominator.
I had a great education. From kindergarten to John Dewey High School in Coney Island, I am public-school educated.
