You know, I went to Morehouse, and in 1988 when my film School Daze came out, people have come up to me and said, “Before that film I had never thought about going to college. I’ve had so many people come up to me and say my films have changed their lives already.
Lee: I’ve always been a firm believer that great art can change lives.
#Just the way you are 2015 film movie#
Things like this happen because of cultural change, and a movie can accomplish that. Paste: And that’s possible through film, I think. Whether it was going to win Best Picture or whatever, that was no one’s concern. But the goal that my co-writer Kenneth Willmott and I had in mind was that we wanted to save lives with this film. Lee: We knew it was going to be an important film. Obviously you were trying to make a good movie, but were you intentionally trying to make an important movie too? Which was pre-eminent in your mind? Paste: I think Richard Brody and I are the two that have said that, so that’s good company to be in. You’re one of the few that feel that way, so thank you very much. Paste:It’s not every year that the most important movie and the best movie are the same, but this year Chi-Raq is both. In 1989, Do the Right Thing, especially, felt like a revolution in filmmaking-and maybe even in society at large. And he wasn’t just any filmmaker-his films bristled with intelligence, technical audacity, deep thoughtful characters, provocative situations, lush cinematography, gorgeous scores. It’s difficult to imagine, but when Lee burst onto the scene, NO black filmmaker was making films for a wide audience. But for many a budding filmmaker of my generation, those in high school and/or college when his first few movies came out, especially those of us especially interested in, or passionate about, African American art and culture, Lee was a revelation, and will always occupy a special place in our hearts. Not personally, you understand-our interview for this article was the first time we had ever spoken for more than sixty seconds or so. Spike Lee is our 2015 Film Person of the Year, and he and I go way back. Start small to grow big, and write a new story for the generations to come.“We’re all tired about white-man this, white-man that. TOMORROW is not just a film, it is the beginning of a movement seeking to encourage local communities around the world to change the way they live for the sake of our planet. So far, no other documentary has gone down such an optimistic road. It offers constructive solutions to act on a local level to make a difference on a global level. A new dream! The documentary Tomorrow sets out to showcase alternative and creative ways of viewing agriculture, economics, energy and education.
TODAY, we need a new direction, objective. We urgently need to focus our efforts on changing our dreams before something irreversible happens to our planet. We are now aware of the setbacks and limits of such development policies.
Over the course of a century, our dream of progress commonly called “the American Dream”, fundamentally changed the way we live and continues to inspire many developing countries. TODAY, we know that answers lie in a wide mobilization of the human race. TODAY, we sometimes feel powerless in front of the various crises of our times.