Spike Lee attended the first-ever public screening in Saudi Arabia of “Malcolm X” on Saturday during the Red Sea Film Festival. The film shot key scenes in Mecca, over 30 years ago, but has never b…
. The film shot key scenes in Mecca, over 30 years ago, but has never been screened in the kingdom, due to the 35-year ban on cinemas that only ended in 2018.
He explained why it was so important to film Malcolm X’s participation in the Hajj, the annual Islamic pilgrimage to Mecca, in Saudi Arabia. “We made the first film that was ever allowed to bring a camera into the holy city of Mecca during Hajj. Of course, I hired a full Muslim camera crew. The highest Islamic court didn’t agree to this because of me, but because they realized how important Malcolm X was for Islam. We were blessed. Yesterday we came full circle.
“There’s no other way we could have shot those scenes in Mecca. You cannot fake those huge crowds. No budget could achieve that. It’s amazing. It gave the film that special feel we needed.” Asked whether it is important to support the burgeoning Saudi film industry he said: “Absolutely. You can’t rely on others to tell your stories. That’s basic 101. Early in my career lots of people told me black films don’t work. They said there couldn’t be a black superhero. They said that black films couldn’t travel. There was a false narrative. Well, my brother Ryan Coogler has changed that. ‘Black Panther’ blew it out of the water.
Lee said that he was in Brazil three weeks ago during the presidential election, in which Lula defeated the right-wing president Jair Bolsonaro. “I was very happy with the result in Brazil. It’s troubling to see what is happening in Russia. What happened with the Jan. 6 insurrection. With ‘Agent Orange,’ who is now running again. This right-wing thing is happening globally. The U.S. just banned abortion. Crazy stuff is happening.
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