BlacKkKlansman (2018)

BlacKkKlansman is a 2018 American biographical crime film directed by Spike Lee and written by Charlie Wachtel, David Rabinowitz, Kevin Willmott and Lee, loosely based on the 2014 memoir Black Klansman by Ron Stallworth. The film stars John David Washington as Stallworth, along with Adam Driver, Laura Harrier, and Topher Grace. It also features Harry Belafonte's last performance before his death in April 2023. Set in the 1970s in Colorado Springs, Colorado, it follows the first African-American detective in the city's police department as he sets out to infiltrate and expose the local Ku Klux Klan chapter.

The film was produced by Lee, Raymond Mansfield, Shaun Redick, Sean McKittrick, Jason Blum, and Jordan Peele. It was packaged by Andy Frances, Stallworth's manager. QC Entertainment purchased the film rights to the book in 2015. Lee signed on as director in September 2017. Much of the cast joined the following month, and filming began in New York State.

BlacKkKlansman premiered on May 14, 2018, at the Cannes Film Festival, where it won the Grand Prix. It was theatrically released by Focus Features in the United States on August 10, 2018, with Universal Pictures releasing in other territories, to critical acclaim, with praise for Lee's direction, the performances (particularly of Washington and Driver), and timely themes. Critics noted it as a return to form for Lee. It received six nominations at the 91st Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and won for Best Adapted Screenplay, Lee's first competitive Oscar. The American Film Institute also selected it as a top 10 film of 2018. At the 76th Golden Globe Awards, it earned four nominations, including Best Motion Picture – Drama.