Spike Lee, an American filmmaker, burst on to the major motion picture scene in 1986 with an artsy black and white film called She's Gotta Have It. Spike Lee acquired financial backing for this film from a close family member, so he knew, at the very least, he had to make a quailty product. She's Gotta Have It is the story of a somewhat sexually promiscuous African American woman named Nola. In the tradition of the Brazilian classic Dona Flora and her Two Husbands, Nola has not two, but three men in her life, and has to make a decision about chosing one, chosing all, or dumping all.

From the start of his filmmaking career, Spike Lee set out to challenge beliefs about race in America. After his ground-breaking debut in 1986, Lee introduced audiences to the seamy underbelly of greek life on black college campuses in School Daze, followed quickly by Do the Right Thing, a thought-provoking, racially-charged tale that takes place on a hot summer day in Brooklyn. Lee took this opportunity to shine the spotlight on neighborhood race relations and police brutality. It soon became clear that Spike Lee was on a mission to educate audiences about what it means to be black in America. Film critics took notice and made it clear, in their reviews of his work, that Lee would become one of the important filmmakers in American history.

Mo Better Blues, although less political, was no less profound in telling the story of Bleek Gilliam, a jazz musician at a crossroads in his career and in his personal life. Jungle Fever, pegged as the one about interracial dating, addresses a number of important topics including family bonds and drug addiction. In 1992, Spike Lee brought the long overdue dramatization of the life of civil rights leader Malcolm X (2pc) to the big screen. The film was very well received by critics and audiences and earned its star, Denzel Washington, an academy award nomination.

After Malcolm X, four years past before Spike Lee released three major films: Clockers, a heart-breaking tale about juveniles in the drug trade, Get on the Bus, a story about the road trip a group of Los Angeles men take to the 1995 Million Man March in Washington DC, and Girl 6, a dark comedy about a phone sex operator's search for love and meaning in life. He Got Game, the story of basketball prodigy Jesus Shuttlesworth, is believed to be one of Lee's most personal films because of his much celebrated love of basketball. Spike Lee closed out the 1990s as he began it, with a story about summer and about lives impacted by one of the worst crime sprees in New York City history, Summer of Sam.

Spike Lee's most recent films have focused on the challenges Americans face in the 21st Century. Bamboozled (New Line Platinum Series) turns the spotlight on the media, She Hate Me, turns the spotlight on corporate america, and the 25th Hour tiptoes around human relations in post 9-11 New York City. In 2006, Denzel Washington, once again, delivered an outstanding performance as lead detective in, Inside Man (Widescreen Edition), a subtly political, intellectual bank heist movie with lots of twists and turns that will keep you on the edge of your seat and guessing until the very end.

The Hurricane Katrina disaster moved Lee to create the documentary When the Levees Broke. This critically acclaimed and often cited documentary brought the poignant stories of displaced Louisiana residents to livingrooms across the USA via HBO. Important Things to Know about Spike Lee:

He grew up in Brooklyn, NY

He graduated from Morehouse College, a historically black college in Georgia

He directs many tv commericals, most notable are Nike and Levis

He writes many of his own scripts

He has produced several documentaries, most notable are When the Levees Broke and 4 Little Girls, nominated for an academy award

He has acted in both major and minor roles in his films

He works with many of the same actors on various projects, most notably Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Denzel Washington, Wesley Snipes, John Turturro, Lonette McKee, GianCarlo Esposito, Samuel L. Jackson, Thomas Jefferson Bryd, Bill Nunn, Rosario Dawson, Roger Guenveur Smith, Delroy Lindo and his sister, Joie Lee

Many of his films contain archival footage of real historical events as part of the fictionalized story

Although nominated twice, he has never won an academy award

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