The Big Apple has spoken. Crooklyn has been voted winner of the “One Film, One New York” contest by Empire City residents.
“One Film, One New York” offered locals the opportunity to choose which New York related film would be screened free of cost at various locations throughout the metropolitan area. Spike Lee’s 1994 drama won the inaugural award beating out On the Town (1949), New York, New York, (1977), Desperately Seeking Susan (1985) and The Wedding Banquet (1993).
Crooklyn is a semi-autobiographical look at the iconic director’s family going up in Brooklyn in the 1970’s. Lee and his siblings released a formal statement regarding the victory.
“Crooklyn was written by my younger siblings Joie, Cinque Lee and I. It’s a semi-bio story of our family – the Lees growing up in the pre-gentrified black and Puerto Rican hood of Fort Greene in ‘Da Republic of Brooklyn’ during the early ’70s. More than anything, Crooklyn is a love letter to our long-gone mother, Jacquelyn Shelton Lee. Our mom died of cancer of the liver at the too-young age of 41, didn’t smoke either. Crooklyn was the way we grieved and at the same time celebrated her brief but bold life. The Lee family thanks everyone who voted for Crooklyn; the support actually started May 13th, 1994, the day of its release. Also shout-out to the other great films too in #OneFilmNY.”
The movie will be shown on Wednesday, September 13. The screening location list can be found here. You can view the original trailer below.
Congrats to Spike on the much-deserved win. Let’s hope the Netflix version of She’s Got To Have It lives up to the original classic.
[Editor’s Note: speaking of classic…]
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Photo: Getty
