Do The Right Thing filmmaker Spike Lee received a lengthy standing ovation as he cruised on stage at the BFI Southbank in London to receive the BFI’s Fellowship award Monday evening.
Lee was presented the award by his Inside Man leading man Clive Owen, who described the new yorker as a “true trailblazer” who will go down in history as “one of the most important directors of his generation.” Accepting the award, Lee thanked his wife, Tonya Lewis Lee, who was in the audience as well as the artists he has collaborated with throughout his career, emphasizing that his decades-long career is the result of intense collaboration. “I’ve said it before in many interviews: It’s not just me — there are many, many people, who you don’t see on this stage,” he said. “It takes a team effort.
It takes a gang effort.” Concluding his speech, Lee told the packed audience — which included a mix of enthusiastic film fans and filmmakers like Edgar Wright — that when he’s shooting a movie, he arrives on set each day and he feels a deep connection to his crew members. “We all love each other, and we love what we’re doing.
We all understand that the majority of people on earth work at a job they hate all their life, and we’re able to make a living doing what we love.
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