She's Gotta Have It
Directed by	Spike Lee
Produced by	Pamm R. Jackson Spike Lee
Written by	Spike Lee
Starring	Tracy Camilla Johns Tommy Redmond Hicks John Canada Terrell
Music by	Bill Lee
Distributed by	Island Pictures
Release date(s)	August 8, 1986
Running time	88 minutes
Language	English
Budget	$175,000 (estimated)
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

She's Gotta Have It is a 1986 comedy-drama film written and directed by Spike Lee. It was also Lee's first feature-length film. The films stars Tracy Camilla Johns, Tommy Redmond Hicks and John Canada Terrell. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (600x900, 70 KB)source: http://www. ... This section has been identified as trivia. ... Tracy Camilla Johns (born in 1963 in Queens, New York, USA) is an American film actress. ... Bill Lee (born July 23, 1928 in Atlanta, Georgia) is an American musician. ... is the 220th day of the year (221st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1986 (MCMLXXXVI) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar). ... // April 12 - Actor Morgan Mason marries The Go-Gos Belinda Carlisle Actor Arnold Schwarzenegger marries television journalist Maria Shriver. ... Comedy has a classical meaning (comical theatre) and a popular one (the use of humour with an intent to provoke[[ laughter in general). ... This does not cite any references or sources. ... Screenwriters, scenarists or script writers, are authors who write the screenplays from which movies and television programs are made. ... The film director, on the right, gives last minute direction to the cast and crew, whilst filming a costume drama on location in London. ... This section has been identified as trivia. ... Tracy Camilla Johns (born in 1963 in Queens, New York, USA) is an American film actress. ...

Plot

Nola Darling (portrayed by Tracy Camilla Johns) is a young, attractive, sexually independent Brooklynite who juggles three suitors: the polite and well-meaning Jamie Overstreet (Tommy Redmond Hicks); the self-obsessed model Greer Childs (John Canada Terrell); and the immature, motormouthed bicycle messenger Mars Blackmon (Lee). Nola is attracted to the best in each of them, but refuses to commit to any of them, cherishing her personal freedom instead, even though each man wants her for himself. For other meanings, see Brooklyn (disambiguation). ... Photograph of the once famous model Dovima A model is a person who poses or displays for purposes of art, fashion, or other products and advertising. ...

Background

She's Gotta Have It was Spike Lee's first feature length motion picture as a writer/director and a landmark independent film of American cinema. It marked a shift in African-American filmmaking away from the Blaxploitation era of the 1970s.^{[citation needed]} American cinema has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. ... Languages Predominantly American English Religions Protestantism (chiefly Baptist and Methodist); Roman Catholicism; Islam Related ethnic groups Sub-Saharan Africans and other African groups, some with Native American groups. ... Shaft (1971) Blaxploitation is a film genre that emerged in the United States in the early 1970s when many exploitation films were made that targeted the urban African American audience; the word itself is a portmanteau of the words “black” and “exploitation. ... The 1970s decade refers to the years from 1970 to 1979. ...

The New York Times wrote that the film "ushered in (along with Jim Jarmusch's Stranger Than Paradise) the American independent film movement of the 1980s. It was also a groundbreaking film for African-American filmmakers and a welcome change in the representation of blacks in American cinema, depicting men and women of color not as pimps and whores, but as intelligent, upscale urbanites." [1] The New York Times is an internationally known daily newspaper published in New York City and distributed in the United States and many other nations worldwide. ... Jim Jarmusch Jim Jarmusch (born January 22, 1953 in Akron, Ohio) is a noted American independent film director. ... Stranger than Paradise Stranger Than Paradise is an absurdist comedy film written and directed by American director Jim Jarmusch in 1984. ...

The film was shot in twelve days on a budget of $175,000 and grossed $7,137,502 at the U.S. box office.^[2] Spike Lee details his trials and consolations on the making and distribution of the film in the book Spike Lee's Gotta Have It: Inside Guerrilla Filmmaking. The highly stylized, black-and-white film features a jazz score by Lee's father, Bill. Culture critic Nelson George, a personal friend of Lee's, was one of the film's main investors.^{[citation needed]} Jazz is a musical art form that originated in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States around the start of the 20th century. ... Bill Lee (born July 23, 1928 in Atlanta, Georgia) is an American musician. ... Nelson George Nelson George (b. ...

Cast

Tracy Camilla Johns (born in 1963 in Queens, New York, USA) is an American film actress. ... This section has been identified as trivia. ... Is it the shoes? Mars Blackmon was a fictional character from the 1986 film Shes Gotta Have It. ... Joie Lee (born Joie Susannah Lee on June 22, 1963 in Brooklyn, New York, USA) is an American screenwriter, film producer, film director and actress. ... S. Epatha Merkerson as Lt. ... Bill Lee (born July 23, 1928 in Atlanta, Georgia) is an American musician. ... Erik Todd Dellums, born in 1964, is an actor and the son of United States politician Ron Dellums. ... Reginald Alan Hudlin (born December 15, 1961) is an American writer and film director. ... Ernest Roscoe Dickerson (born June 25, 1951) is an American film director and cinematographer. ... Fab Five Freddy, born Fred Braithwaite, is a rapper whose name appeared in the mainstream through a namecheck in Blondies single Rapture and his appearance in the video for that single. ...

Reception

Awards & nominations

1986 Cannes Film Festival Cannes Film Festival logo. ...

• "Award of the Youth" Foreign Film — Spike Lee (won)

1986 Los Angeles Film Critics Awards The Los Angeles Film Critics Association (LAFCA) was founded in 1975. ...

• "New Generation Award" — Spike Lee (won)

1987 Independent Spirit Awards Founded in 1984, the Independent Spirit Awards were originally known as the FINDIE (Friends of Independents) Awards and presented winners with Plexiglas pyramids containing suspended shoestrings representing the paltry budgets of independent films. ...

• Best First Feature — Spike Lee (won)
• Best Female Lead — Tracy Camilla Johns (nominated)

Current Availability

She's Gotta Have It, despite celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2006 and being available on DVD in the United Kingdom, does not yet have a DVD release scheduled in North America. Presently the film is only seen by the public on its now out of print VHS tape, or occasional appearances on television networks such as the Independent Film Channel. Bottom view of VHS cassette with magnetic tape exposed Top view of VHS cassette with front casing removed The Video Home System, better known by its abbreviation VHS is a recording and playing standard for analog video cassette recorders (VCRs), developed by Victor Company of Japan, Limited (JVC) and launched... IFC logo The Independent Film Channel (IFC), launched in September, 1994, is a premium digital cable channel dedicated to presenting independent films, unedited and commercial-free. ...

However, the film did receive a proper release in the series of The Criterion Collection via the ill-fated laserdisc format in the mid-90s. A well supplemented disc, it was likely it would simply be reissued by The Criterion Collection. According to Spike Lee's agent, the film was to be eventually released on DVD via The Criterion Collection. No specific street date had been set, but it was rumored it would be released early 2007. But, after frequent e-mails to Jonathan Turell of The Criterion Collection, the rumour ended with him saying "No for She's Gotta Have It. We don't have DVD rights." [3] The Criterion Collection logo The Criterion Collection is a privately held company that distributes authoritative consumer versions of important classic and contemporary films on DVD. It was established in 1984 as a joint venture between Janus Films and the Voyager Company. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... This section has been identified as trivia. ... The Criterion Collection logo The Criterion Collection is a privately held company that distributes authoritative consumer versions of important classic and contemporary films on DVD. It was established in 1984 as a joint venture between Janus Films and the Voyager Company. ...

Notes

1. ^  "She's Gotta Have It". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved January 30, 2006.

Box Office Mojo is a website that tracks box office revenue in a systematic way. ...

Reference

• Lee, Spike (1987). Spike Lee's Gotta Have It: Inside Guerrilla Filmmaking. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-671-64417-3. 

External links

• She's Gotta Have It at the Internet Movie Database
• She's Gotta Have It at Rotten Tomatoes