The Emory Cinematheque Presents: Bamboozled

The Emory Cinematheque Presents: Bamboozled November 18 at 7:30 p.m. in White Hall 208 2000 | Run Time: 135 min. | 35mm Directed by Spike Lee Introduced by Dr. Alessandra Raengo (Georgia State University)

On a budget of ten million dollars and shot primarily on Mini-DV, Spike Lee wrote and directed the script for this funny and parodic examination of television targeting Black audiences. Lee wanted to experiment with the new technology and tapped Ellen Kuras to serve as the film’s DP (Kuras also shot 4 Little Girls and Summer of Sam). He notes, “…digital video was a good aesthetic choice because it’s a film about a television show…using Mini-DV suited this film perfectly because we had a lot to do on this shoot and we needed to move” (The St. Louis American).

Released in 2000, Bamboozled garnered a split reception of its meaning, significance and impact on filmmaking and Black representation. In her book Critical Race Theory and Bamboozled, film scholar Alessandra Raengo suggests that the film may be the blackest film ever made, writing: “This is the case visually but is also revealed in the way the film showcases how blackness has been built throughout the history of US media; visual, material, and consumer culture; and the history of the senses.” Adds film critic Duane Dudek, “Bamboozled paints a portrait of a corporate plantation where the slaves now have stock options” (Milwaukee Journal Sentinel). And as media scholar Beretta E. Smith-Shomade concludes, “Black progress comes at a price—the price to see the show or the price to be the show. Either way, it seems from Bamboozled, someone has to pay.”

Bamboozled stars Damon Wayans, Jada Pinkett Smith, Michael Rapaport, Yasiin Bey, Tommy Davidson, and Savion Glover. Professor Alessandra Raengo of Georgia State University will introduce the film and lead the Q & A.