Director Spike Lee poses with his ‘BlacKkKlansman’ stars John David Washington, left, and Adam Driver, right in Cannes.(Photo: FRANCK ROBICHON, EPA-EFE)
CANNES, France – The morning after Spike Lee’s BlacKkKlansman premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, the director sounded off on Donald Trump and white supremacy in the United States.
BlacKkKlansman, a film based on a true story about a black cop who manages to go undercover in the Ku Klux Klan in the early 1970s, closes with stark footage of the deadly Charlottesville protests – an unplanned ending, Lee said at Tuesday’s press conference.
“The (Charlottesville) tragedy happened after we finished; I was in Martha’s Vineyard,” Lee said. “I saw what happened and right away I knew that this had to be coda for the film.”
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Lee also includes images of 32-year-old Heather Heyer, who was killed while peacefully protesting the white supremacist rally that descended upon Charlottesville. The director said he reached out to Heyer’s mother to ask for permission before using images connected to her daughter’s death.
“I was not going to put that murder scene in the film without her blessing,” he said.
It was then Lee began to sound off on his frustrations with President Trump, who infamously failed to condemn the alt-right immediately following the Charlottesville riots, instead blaming “many sides” for the conflict.
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“That was a murder and we have a guy in the White House – I’m not going to say his (expletive) name,” said an emotional Lee Tuesday in Cannes. “That (expletive) was given a chance to say we are about love and not hate. And that (expletive) did not denounce the (expletive) Klan, the alt-right, and those Nazi (expletives).”
The director called Trump’s refusal to condemn white supremacy the president’s “defining moment.”
“He could have said to the world, not (just) to the United States, that we were better than that,” said Lee. “We look to our leaders to give us direction. To make moral decisions.” He added: “We have to wake up. And we can’t be silent.”
After receiving an avalanche of criticism over his initial response, Trump eventually condemned the KKK and white supremacists, earning ire from David Duke.
During the press conference the director avoided other hot topics, including questions about his debate with Quentin Tarantino over use of the N-word in film and how he feels about Kanye West’s recent support of Trump. “I’m not talking about Mr. West here,” he said, pointing to his previous statement on Instagram.
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Lee refocused to alt-right movements taking root worldwide. “This is a global problem,” emphasized the director, who plans to release his latest film on Aug. 10, the one-year anniversary of the Charlottesville tragedy.
“I know in my heart, I don’t care what the critics say, we are on the right side of history with this film,” he said, offering an apology for his use of profanity during the press conference. “Please excuse me for some profane words. But the (crap) that’s going on makes you want to curse.”
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