{"id":1750,"date":"2019-02-08T09:17:53","date_gmt":"2019-02-08T15:17:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/academics.winona.edu\/povwinona\/?p=1750"},"modified":"2019-02-09T21:02:08","modified_gmt":"2019-02-10T03:02:08","slug":"resilience-resistance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/academics.winona.edu\/povwinona\/resilience-resistance\/","title":{"rendered":"Resilience & Resistance: The Films of Spike Lee"},"content":{"rendered":"

With Black History Month underway, Winona State University\u2019s Film Studies program is partnering with the school\u2019s Office of Inclusion and Diversity to sponsor a series showcasing films by director-writer Spike Lee.<\/p>\n

The series, titled \u201cResilience & Resistance: The Films of Spike Lee,\u201d begins at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 14, with a screening of the Academy Award-nominated feature for Best Picture and Best Director \u201cBlacKkKlansman.\u201d<\/p>\n

Winona State English and film professor J Paul Johnson, whose students in a course titled \u201cDirectors\/Stars: Spike Lee\u201d will curate the series, said Lee’s films were chosen to coincide with the university’s observation of Black History Month.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to celebrate Black History Month by looking at the career and accomplishments of one of the most celebrated, important and influential of all African-American filmmakers across the 20th and 21st centuries,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n

\u201c(Lee\u2019s) work is especially timely given the success of \u2018BlacKkKlansman,\u2019\u201d Johnson continued. “(The) film \u2026 has fully earned its Best Picture Academy Award nomination, as well as the first-time Best Director nomination for Spike Lee himself.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

Film Studies Professor J Paul Johnson spoke on Spike Lee’s documentary 4 Little Girls and other films at a Winona State Liberal Arts panel Wednesday, Feb. 6.<\/p><\/div>\n

With the film and Lee\u2019s nominations coinciding with the upcoming series, a new facet of the series is introduced by not only appreciating Lee\u2019s career, but celebrating his long overdue recognition that many, including Johnson, feel he has been deprived of in his 30-plus-year career.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2018Do the Right Thing,\u2019 for example, (is) really among the great works of American cinema,\u201d Johnson said in relation to Lee\u2019s nominations. \u201cI think he was simply too radical, resistant and revolutionary for the Academy to award in times that were pretty conservative.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOne can make the case that the Academy is still pretty conservative,\u201d Johnson humorously added.<\/p>\n

Film Studies student Brynn Artley commented on her lack of familiarity with Lee and how films like “Do the Right Thing” had an impact on her.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2019m taking the Spike Lee Film Studies class this semester. Previous to that I had only seen one film of his, \u2018Do the Right Thing,\u2019 and I watched that because of a summer Film Studies class.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c(‘Do the Right Thing’) was different from anything I had ever (seen),\u201d Artley continued. \u201cIt gave me a lot to think about. It\u2019s one of those films that I probably wouldn\u2019t have gone out and watched on my own, but I was grateful that I did get to see it because of class.”<\/p>\n

The films selected in addition to \u201cBlacKkKlansman\u201d\u2014\u201cFour Little Girls,\u201d \u201cCrooklyn,\u201d \u201cDo the Right Thing\u201d and \u201cInside Man\u201d\u2014are, as Johnson described, meant to showcase the range of Lee\u2019s career, spanning from his political works like \u201cBlacKkKlansman\u201d and \u201cDo the Right Thing,\u201d to his exercise in mainstream thriller filmmaking with \u201cInside Man.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe really has a strong body of work,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cAnd that\u2019s something that can hold up a whole film series.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

Film Studies students Gregory Okello and Kendra Devine-Pringle plan the Feb. 18 screening of Spike Lee’s 4 Little Girls.<\/p><\/div>\n

Planning for the series began shortly after the hiring of Inclusion and Diversity director Jonathan Locust, who Johnson was interested in partnering with on programming for the school upon meeting him.<\/p>\n

Regarding his thoughts on the series, Locust expressed excitement at the prospect of Lee being the subject matter of an entire film series.<\/p>\n

\u201cSpike Lee (is) one of my favorite directors,” Locust said. “He\u2019s also produced some of my favorite movies I grew up with.”<\/p>\n

Locust also voiced his thoughts on the partnership between Inclusion and Diversity and Film Studies.<\/p>\n

\u201cFinding out there was a class being taught (on Lee), and being asked to collaborate, it just made sense,\u201d Locust said. \u201cThese are the types of things that Inclusion and Diversity wants to be involved in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Locust also discussed the range of the films selected and how they might identify with a diverse audience.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo matter who you are, you should be able to find something,\u201d Locust said. \u201cEven though the films are being shown during Black History Month, these aren\u2019t necessarily Black History Month films.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnson commented on the lack of showings for Spike Lee films in Winona, as well as the director\u2019s large absence from the public eye in the last decade.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it would be great if our community could have the opportunity to take a look at once again and celebrate the incredible work he has done over his career,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n

Locust suggested that the series will be successful because it is bringing films to Winona that are either largely under-appreciated or just were never given enough exposure.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur office is here to try and provide access and opportunity,\u201d Locust said. \u201cWe\u2019re giving access to films that people may not have access to on a regular basis or may have to travel a little bit farther to see.\u201d<\/p>\n

Artley touched on how cinema by filmmakers of African descent often goes unnoticed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think African American cinema as a whole doesn\u2019t get exposure as much as a lot of other films from the 70s and 80s,\u201d Artley said. \u201cThey\u2019re not necessarily celebrated in the way I think they should be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Johnson also added that the 30th anniversary of \u201cDo the Right Thing\u201d awards a series like this an opportunity to impart upon an audience the knowledge and recognition that Lee, especially early on his career, struggled to find the means to create and showcase his films.<\/p>\n

\"\"

WSU Film Studies minors and majors Dylan Johnson, Joe Van Ryn, Josh DeLaRosa, and Chris Schroeder plan for the Feb. 25 screening of Do the Right Thing.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cHe didn\u2019t have the benefit of growing up inside or working within the traditional Hollywood system of distribution and exhibition,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cHe had to rely on friends and family for funding \u2026 often in non-union productions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Locust voiced a lesson audiences should take away from the series as a whole.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a common perception that everybody in the industry is just white,\u201d Locust said. \u201cIt\u2019s important for people to see that there are films being made by under-represented groups.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGo out and support those individuals,\u201d Locust encouraged. \u201c(And see what) films aren\u2019t making it to the current big box office market.”<\/p>\n

The objective of this series seems to be to impart upon an audience the struggles that African American filmmakers like Spike Lee had to\u2014and still\u2014endure in their quest to get their vision seen by a wide audience.<\/p>\n

On top of that, the choice of films from Lee\u2019s diverse career have the potential to enhance the experience by simply entertaining audiences, as well.<\/p>\n

Once the series is over, both Johnson and Locust are open to another partnership between Inclusion and Diversity and Film Studies.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope Film Studies can keep partnering with Inclusion and Diversity on either Black History Month programming or Women\u2019s History Month programming,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cThat could be a pretty exciting avenue for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Locust referred to one of the objectives of Inclusion and Diversity as the compass for a future partnership.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe goal is you want to try to meet as many people and engulf yourself in different cultures,\u201d Locust said. \u201cWe want to continue having the film series and working with Dr. Johnson and other faculty and asking, \u2018Who are other directors we need to be looking at?\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

WSU Film Studies majors Harrison McCormick and Noah Mruz are among those presenting the Feb. 14 screening of BlacKKlansman.<\/p><\/div>\n

Film Studies student Joe Van Ryn expressed hope for more film series like this one in the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like there should be a film series every semester at Winona State,\u201d said Van Ryn. \u201cI think that\u2019s really important. Not only for the university, but the students who are studying here.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to \u201cBlacKkKlansman,\u201d the subsequent films in \u201cResilience & Resistance: The Films of Spike Lee\u201d will show every Monday and Thursday at 7 p.m. until the end of February in the auditorium of Winona State\u2019s Science Laboratory Center. All film admission is free and open to the public.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Winona State University\u2019s Film Studies Program and Inclusion and Diversity office are sponsoring a film series showcasing filmmaker Spike Lee Feb. 14-28, taking a look at one of the few Black filmmakers in American cinema to forge a long, successful, and sometimes-controversial career.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":1770,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[81,18],"tags":[15,85],"class_list":["post-1750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-right","category-updates","tag-josh-delarosa","tag-spike-lee"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/academics.winona.edu\/povwinona\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/02\/DeLaRosa-Spike-Lee-Photo.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/academics.winona.edu\/povwinona\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/academics.winona.edu\/povwinona\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/academics.winona.edu\/povwinona\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/academics.winona.edu\/povwinona\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/42"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/academics.winona.edu\/povwinona\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1750"}],"version-history":[{"count":39,"href":"https:\/\/academics.winona.edu\/povwinona\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1750\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1809,"href":"https:\/\/academics.winona.edu\/povwinona\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1750\/revisions\/1809"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/academics.winona.edu\/povwinona\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1770"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/academics.winona.edu\/povwinona\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/academics.winona.edu\/povwinona\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/academics.winona.edu\/povwinona\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}