Spike Lee will receive one of directing’s highest honors as the recipient of the 2022 lifetime achievement award from the Directors Guild of America.
Lee will be recognized at the 74th Annual DGA Awards on Saturday, March 12, the DGA announced Wednesday.
“Icon. Trailblazer. Visionary. Spike Lee has changed the face of cinema, and there is no single word that encapsulates his significance to the craft of directing,” Lesli Linka Glatter, president of the DGA, said in a statement.
“From his groundbreaking Do the Right Thing, BlacKkKlansman and everything in between—to his signature ‘double dolly’ shot, Spike is an innovator on so many levels. His bold and passionate storytelling over the past three decades has masterfully entertained, as it held a stark mirror to our society and culture,” Glatter continued.
Related Story: Spike Lee: Black People Still Being ‘Hunted Down Like Animals’ 3 Decades After ‘Do the Right Thing’
Previous recipients of the DGA Lifetime Achievement Award include Ridley Scott, Clint Eastwood, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Francis Ford Coppola, Stanley Kubrick and Woody Allen.
Lee has received high honors in the last couple of years, including becoming the first Black president of the Cannes Film Festival jury in 2021. Last January, he was additionally honored at the 34th American Cinematheque awards ceremony, for contributing greatly to the film industry.
In 2019, Lee won an Academy Award for adapting the screenplay for BlacKkKlansman. In 2015 he was awarded an honorary Oscar for lifetime achievement and contributions to the motion picture industry.
His body of work extends from films to television series and commercials. He has also directed music videos and shorts for artists including as Michael Jackson, Prince, Public Enemy, Branford Marsalis, Bruce Hornsby, Miles Davis, and Anita Baker.
