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Spike Lee will participate in a live conversation about his 1989 film, Do the Right Thing, on Thursday at 8 p.m. ET. The discussion will stream on American Film Institute (AFI) Movie Club’s YouTube channel.
American Fiim Institute in partnership with Universal Pictures selected Lee’s film as its movie of the week, a fitting choice for the times as the movie addresses themes of racial injustice and inequality, and police brutality. The film was nominated for two Academy Awards, four Golden Globes and garnered a Palme d’Or nomination.
“Do the Right Thing is a timeless and timely classic,” AFI’s President and CEO Bob Gazzale said in a statement. “And Spike Lee has forever proven himself the voice for change that we need now more than ever.”
As an AFI Movie Club selection, the film is available to stream free this week through June 29th via a variety of platforms, including Amazon, Apple, Charter, Comcast, Cox, Dish, DirecTV, FandangoNOW, Google, Microsoft, Redbox, Sony, Verizon and Vudu.
Do the Right Thing details tensions between the local residents and an Italian-American family in the Black neighborhood of Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn on the hottest day of the summer, which culminates in violence and death. The ensemble cast includes Lee, Ossie Davis, Ruby Dee, Martin Lawrence, Rosie Perez, Danny Aiello, John Turturro, Giancarlo Esposito, Samuel L. Jackson, Bill Nunn and Robin Harris.
Lee’s new film, Da 5 Bloods, debuted on Netflix earlier this month. In May, Lee released a short film called 3 Brothers, which mixed a famous scene from Do the Right Thing with footage of the police killings of George Floyd and Eric Garner. “What we’re seeing today is not new,” Lee told CNN. “We’ve seen this again and again and again, and people are asking the same questions: ‘Why are people rioting? Why are people doing this?’ Because people are fed up and people are tired of the debasing, the killing of black bodies. That’s what this country is built upon.”
