Crooklyn. 1994. USA. Directed by Spike Lee. Screenplay by Joie Susannah Lee, Cinqué Lee, and Spike Lee. With Alfre Woodard, Delroy Lindo, Spike Lee, Zelda Harris. 35mm print courtesy NBC/Universal. In English. 115 min.
Although the Brooklyn Academy of Music in Fort Greene has a history of repertory programming dating back to the 1970s, the performing arts organization made a major commitment to year-round cinema under the leadership of Harvey Lichtenstein and Karen Brooks Hopkins, founding the four-screen BAMCinema in 1998, with three screens devoted to arthouse programming and one, the BAMCinematek, to repertory screenings and festivals. With consulting programmers Dan Talbot and Adrienne Mancia, and the full-time programmer Florence Almozini, BAM quickly established itself as one of the city’s most important film venues. Past programmers include Jacob Perlin, Nellie Killian, Gabriel Caroti, David Reilly, Ashley Clarke, and Gina Duncan (who was also BAM president). The current head of programming is Jesse Trussell. Spike Lee—who is not just one of the world’s most prolific and singular directors but was also a long-time Fort Greene resident who established his company 40 Acres and a Mule in the neighborhood—has been a frequent guest at BAM. He was the subject of the 1999 retrospective that opened BAM Cinematek, and another retrospective in 2014. Crooklyn, his most directly personal film, and among his most beautiful (with widescreen cinematography by Arthur Jafa), is a childhood memoir about growing up in Fort Greene, cowritten by Spike Lee with his sister Joie Susannah Lee and brother Cinqué Lee.