Spike Lee’s Adventures in Moviegoing

Spike Lee’s Adventures in Moviegoing

11 Episodes

Always bold, subversive, and razor-sharp, auteur and cultural icon Spike Lee sees the complexities of life in America with a clarity like no other. In this edition of Adventures in Moviegoing, he sits down with Sheril Antonio, his colleague at New York University Tisch School of the Arts, to discuss his formative cinematic experiences—from growing up watching James Bond movies with his mother to the impressions that pioneering Black performers like Sidney Poitier, Jim Brown, and Melvin Van Peebles made on him. The films he has chosen to present, like ROME OPEN CITY, THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS, and SWEET SWEETBACK’S BAADASSSSS SONG, crackle with the defiantly independent spirit that runs through his own work.

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Spike Lee’s Adventures in Moviegoing

11 Episodes

  • Spike Lee in Conversation
    18:13
    Spike Lee in Conversation
    Episode 1

    Spike Lee in Conversation

    Episode 1

  • Spike Lee on BLACK ORPHEUS
    02:27
    Spike Lee on BLACK ORPHEUS
    Episode 2

    Spike Lee on BLACK ORPHEUS

    Episode 2

  • Black Orpheus
    1:47:49
    Black Orpheus
    Episode 3

    Black Orpheus

    Episode 3

    Directed by Marcel Camus • 1959 • Brazil, France
    Starring Breno Mello, Marpessa Dawn, Lourdes de Oliveira

    Winner of both the Academy Award for best foreign-language film and the Cannes Film Festival’s Palme d’Or, Marcel Camus’ BLACK ORPHEUS (ORFEU NEGRO) brings the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus ...

  • Spike Lee on SWEET SWEETBACK'S BAADASSSSS SONG
    03:05
    Spike Lee on SWEET SWEETBACK'S BAADASSSSS SONG
    Episode 4

    Spike Lee on SWEET SWEETBACK'S BAADASSSSS SONG

    Episode 4

  • Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song
    1:38:02
    Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song
    Episode 5

    Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song

    Episode 5

    Directed by Melvin Van Peebles • 1971 • United States
    Starring Melvin Van Peebles, Simon Chuckster, Hubert Scales

    A landmark of Black and American independent cinema that would send shock waves through the culture, SWEET SWEETBACK’S BAADASSSSS SONG was Melvin Van Peebles’s second feature film, a...

  • Spike Lee on THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS
    03:36
    Spike Lee on THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS
    Episode 6

    Spike Lee on THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS

    Episode 6

  • The Battle of Algiers
    2:01:37
    The Battle of Algiers
    Episode 7

    The Battle of Algiers

    Episode 7

    Directed by Gillo Pontecorvo • 1966 • Algeria, Italy
    Starring Brahim Haggiag, Jean Martin, Saadi Yacef

    One of the most influential political films in history, THE BATTLE OF ALGIERS, by Gillo Pontecorvo, vividly re-creates a key year in the tumultuous Algerian struggle for independence from the o...

  • Spike Lee on RASHOMON
    02:10
    Spike Lee on RASHOMON
    Episode 8

    Spike Lee on RASHOMON

    Episode 8

  • Rashomon
    1:28:32
    Rashomon
    Episode 9

    Rashomon

    Episode 9

    Directed by Akira Kurosawa • 1950 • Japan
    Starring Toshiro Mifune, Machiko Kyo, Masayuki Mori

    A riveting psychological thriller that investigates the nature of truth and the meaning of justice, RASHOMON is widely considered one of the greatest films ever made. Four people give different accou...

  • Spike Lee on ROME OPEN CITY
    02:27
    Spike Lee on ROME OPEN CITY
    Episode 10

    Spike Lee on ROME OPEN CITY

    Episode 10

  • Rome Open City
    1:43:23
    Rome Open City
    Episode 11

    Rome Open City

    Episode 11

    Directed by Roberto Rossellini • 1945 • Italy
    Starring Aldo Fabrizi, Anna Magnani, Marcello Pagliero

    This was Roberto Rossellini’s revelation, a harrowing drama about the Nazi occupation of Rome and the brave few who struggled against it. Though told with more melodramatic flair than the films t...

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