 director shelton jackson   spike   lee  born march 20 1957 is an american film director producer writer and actor his production company 40 acres and a mule filmworks has produced over 35 films since 1983 he made his directorial debut with she s gotta have it  1986 and has since directed such films as do the right thing  1989  malcolm x  1992  the original kings of comedy  2000  25th hour  2002  inside man  2006  chiraq  2015 and blackkklansman  2018 lee has also acted in 10 of his own films lee s films have examined race relations colorism in the black community the role of media in contemporary life urban crime and poverty and other political issues he has won numerous accolades for his work including five academy award nominations a student academy award and an academy honorary award from the academy of motion picture arts and sciences two emmy awards two peabody awards an honorary bafta award an honorary cesar the 2013 gish prize and a grand prix award  