For almost four decades, Spike Lee has been a defining figure in American cinema, bringing crucial stories of the Black experience, New York City, and the nation at large to the big screen with signature craft and style. Film by film — joint by joint — he tackles the American struggle head-on, confronting its ugliest tendencies as deftly as he celebrates its simplest joys. The soul of his films lies in the portrayal of their characters, and in how the forces of race, class, gender, and sexuality not only shape their individual circumstances but also drive the currents that dictate our world. Bridging genres and shifting tone like a switch, his films exist on a register all their own, urging you to feel more, love a little harder, and above all see, understand, and recognize the world as it really is. Wake up, wake up, wake up and listen to the Spike truth.
In anticipation of our Feature 9 event on November 16, enjoy this retrospective of Spike Lee's work.
A Weekend Essentials pick before we even knew he was coming to town (!), Spike Lee’s 1989 masterpiece established him as a writer and filmmaker of peerless vision and passionate social engagement. Essential viewing in the truest sense.
Read MoreDenzel Washington delivers a towering performance in Lee’s sweeping, essential portrait of the civil rights leader’s life and legacy. In partnership with the Malcolm X Memorial Foundation, with a pre-screening reception at 1 pm.
Get TicketsA warm, semi-autobiographical tale of childhood in 1970s Brooklyn, blending humor, struggle, and the rhythms of family life. In partnership with I Be Black Girl.
Get TicketsA gritty, street-level crime drama and moral inquiry, probing the choices facing young men caught between survival and conscience.
Get TicketsDuring the summer of 1977, the philandering Vinny (John Leguizamo) nearly falls victim to a killer known as the Son of Sam; soon he and numerous people are trying to figure out the killer’s identity, before it's too late.
Get TicketsLee delivers one of the great bank heist movies of all time, featuring power-packed performances from Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, Jodie Foster, and Christopher Plummer.
Get TicketsThese films are presented in partnership with North Omaha Music & Arts (NOMA)
Denzel Washington leads as a jazz trumpeter torn between art, love, and loyalty in Lee’s stylish ode to music and its complications. Music by Bill Lee, Terence Blanchard.
Get TicketsA bold and insightful look at interracial romance and the cultural tensions it stirs. Music by Terence Blanchard, Stevie Wonder
Get TicketsA father is released from prison to reconnect with his son, a coveted basketball recruit, in Lee’s drama about family, forgiveness, and the underside of sports. Music by Aaron Copland.
Get TicketsA Black TV writer, dismissed at every turn, pitches a blackface minstrel show in jest — only for it to become a national sensation. Presented in partnership with Culxr House.
Get TicketsA playful yet pointed exploration of identity and commodification, following a struggling actress who takes work at a phone sex hotline.
Get TicketsA bold, urgent reimagining of Lysistrata set in Chicago, where women take a stand against gun violence with body, wit, and will.
Get TicketsLee balances humor and searing social commentary in this Oscar-winner about a Black detective (John David Washington) who infiltrates the Ku Klux Klan.
Get TicketsFour veterans return to Vietnam in search of their fallen squad leader and buried treasure in Lee’s epic, timeshifting meditation on war, memory, and America. Presented in partnership with 100 Black Men of Omaha.
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