The Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences Division of Humanities welcomed Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Spike Lee, M.F.A., to NSU as part of the college’s 2010–2011 Distinguished Speakers Series on November 3.
Lee, who has released more than 45 films, including Do the Right Thing and Malcolm X, spoke about his humble beginnings as an unmotivated student searching for his niche. In the summer of 1977, after struggling to maintain a C average in his first two years of college in Georgia, Lee returned to Brooklyn, where he was raised. The city suffered from a blackout and Lee had “no job and nothing to do;” he had only a Super 8 camera. So he went out and “shot stuff” around the city.
“I found out what I wanted to do with my life,” Lee told the crowd of more than 700 students, faculty members, and guests. “I didn’t find film; film found me.”
Lee encouraged students to choose a major based on “what you love” and to take advantage of the myriad opportunities available at a university that will help uncover that passion. Lee also said to keep mindful of the challenges ahead and to spend each day working toward a goal. Success doesn’t come overnight, he said. “You have to crawl before you walk.”
Prior to his keynote speech in the Arena at the Don Taft University Center, Lee discussed his work with students at a private seminar and with faculty members at a reception.
Lee’s films are outspoken and provocative socio-political critiques that challenge cultural assumptions about race, class, urban violence, and gender identity. His debut feature film, 1986’s She’s Gotta Have It, grossed more than $7 million in theatres, though created on a $175,000 budget. Three years later, Lee received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay for Do the Right Thing.
Visit the Spike Lee photo gallery to view photos from Lee’s talk.
On Thursday, February 17, the Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences will welcome its next Distinguished Speaker, evolutionary biologist and author Richard Dawkins. For more information, visit www.fcas.nova.edu/articles/dss/richard_dawkins.