Spike Lee to speak at Shippensburg Feb. 16
Spike Lee, writer, director, actor,
producer, and author, is guest
speaker Feb. 16 at Shippensburg University’s annual Helping Our People Excel
(H.O.P.E.) Diversity Scholarship benefit program. The annual program
commemorates Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday and raises funds for the
scholarship.
The annual dinner is at 6 p.m. in the Tuscarora Room in Reisner Dining
Hall followed at 8 p.m. by his presentation in the H. Ric Luhrs Performing Arts
Center. Tickets for the dinner and lecture are $55 per person. Tickets for just
the lecture are $20 per adult. Individuals may also participate in a reception
with Lee at 4:45 p.m. in the Luhrs Center. That cost, which includes a ticket
to both the dinner and the lecture, is $80 per person.
Lee
revolutionized the role of Black talent in cinema. Widely regarded as a
premiere African-American filmmaker, Lee is aforerunner in the “do-it-yourself”
school of independent film. His debut fi lm, the independently-produced comedy
“She’s Gotta Have It,” set him at the forefront of the Black New Wave in
American Cinema. This was followed by the critically acclaimed “School Daze,”
and the 1989 film “Do the Right Thing,” which garnered him an Academy Award
nomination for Best Original Screenplay. His epic drama “Malcolm X,” starring Denzel
Washington, received two Academy Award nominations.
Lee’s
films showcase a series of outspoken and provocative socio-political critiques
that challenge cultural assumptions, not only about race, but class and gender
identity as well. Lee’s most recent theatrical releases are “Miracle at St.
Anna,” the story of four black American Army soldiers of the all-black 92nd
“Buffalo Soldier” Division, and “When the Levees Broke,” a groundbreaking
documentary focusing on New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina.
For
more information or tickets, call 477-1738 or send an e-mail to info@luhrscenter.com. Checks should be made payable to: H.O.P.E. Diversity
Scholarship Fund/ SU Foundation.
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