You no longer have to be Denzel Washington to enjoy an intimate audience with Spike Lee. The award-winning director will be coming to Centennial Hall on March 31. Students can buy presale tickets on Thursday and Friday for $5, limit two per CatCard, at the Centennial Hall box office. Tickets go on sale to the general public Monday.
Famous for spearheading such socially relevant films as “”Malcolm X,”” “”Summer of Sam,”” and “”25th Hour,”” Lee will be delivering a lecture hosted by the University Activities Board. As one of the most respected — or at least recognizable — African-American filmmakers of the 20th century, Lee is famous for both the thought-provoking and the controversial. His works have explored such sensitive social issues as rape (“”She’s Gotta Have It””), murder (“”Summer of Sam””), bigotry (“”Do the Right Thing””) and, more recently, the wreckage of post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans in his Emmy-winning documentary “”When The Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts.”” What the director will have to say to a UA audience is anyone’s guess.
Not content with just being in the same room as Lee? The activities board will be holding a contest to select six students to meet the director in person before the lecture. Winners will be selected based on their response to the prompt, “”Why I want to meet Spike Lee,”” which can take the form of a written letter, a film script or an original film. Contest applications can be picked up at the front desk of the Center for Student Involvement and Leadership, at the Gallagher Theater box office or in the Student Union Memorial Center Games Room. Submissions are due by March 22.
Lee’s lecture will mark the first of the activities board’s “”An Evening with …”” series. More lectures will be announced over the semester.
— Brandon Specktor
If You Go
An Evening with Spike Lee
March 31, 7 p.m.
Centennial Hall
$5 presale tickets for UA students only available on March 4 and 5
Starting March 8, student tickets at $5, $10, $15
General public $10, $20, $30
Contest deadline March 22
