With the special screening in Saudi Arabia of Malcolm Xthe 1992 film considered by many to be his masterpiece, Spike Lee feels like he’s come full circle. The film, which had its key scene shot in Mecca thirty years ago during the Hajj, the annual Islamic pilgrimage to the city, has, in fact, never been screened in Saudi Arabia until today. Which is a shame, given that the director has always been particularly proud and proud of his feat because Malcolm X it was the first Hollywood film to document live a monumental scene such as that of the flow of faithful to the Holy Land. “We made the first film that was allowed to carry a camera inside the holy city of Mecca during Hajj. To do this, I hired a complete Muslim crew, and I can only be satisfied with how it went. Today, with the screening of the film here, in Jeddah, we have come full circle». explained the director during a special meeting during the Red International Film Festivalwhich, in fact, allowed Lee to project Malcolm X for the first time in Arab land.
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«Finally having the opportunity to visit Saudi Arabia and meet young filmmakers is a very exciting experience», continued Spike Lee, who also took the opportunity of the meeting to talk about deeper issues such as the family – «My ancestors weren’t slaves, they were reduced to slavery» – and his long friendship with the director of the photography Ernest Dickerson, who collaborated on all of his films. “We wanted it to be an epic film, like the Doctor Zhivago by David Lean o Lawrence of Arabia. Shooting Malcolm X’s hajj added a certain spirituality to the film. We couldn’t have shot those scenes in Mecca any other way: you couldn’t recreate those huge crowds in an alternative way, no budget could have achieved that goal. This gave the film that special feel we needed.”
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During the interview, however, Spike Lee also recalled his solid relationship with the director Oliver Stonewho currently presides over the Red Sea Film Festival jury, bringing back memories of the long battle with Warner Bros. who wanted to shorten the duration of Malcolm X at two hours. When asked whether it is important to support the burgeoning Saudi film industry, Lee had no doubts: «Absolutely. You can’t rely on others to tell your stories. Early in my career, many people told me that black films didn’t work. They said there couldn’t be a black superhero. They said films about blacks couldn’t make it overseas. We know it wasn’t like that.” This is why Spike Lee’s advice to young Saudi filmmakers is very simple: “You have to get busy. Everyone I worked with had a strong work ethic: from Miles Davis to Michael Jackson, from Prince to Michael Jordan, from Stevie Wonder to Aretha Franklin». Finally, a final reflection on the culture of cancellation that increasingly affects the art world: «Many artists today are condemned for their work, but we must separate the art from the artists»concluded Spike Lee, concentrated in his story of iconic characters such as the former quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers and civil rights activist Colin Kaepernick, expelled from the federation in 2016 after kneeling during the national anthem to protest racial injustice.