Blacktronica: Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads

Filmed in the area of Brooklyn in which he grew up, Spike Lee’s first film went on to win the Student Award of the Motion Picture Academy and set in train a remarkable career.

Twenty-five-years-old this year, Joe’s Bed-Stuy Barbershop was Spike Lee’s first film, made while he was a student at the film school of New York University. It was filmed in and around the area of Brooklyn in which he grew up, and is a fascinating portrait of the neighbourhood he would revisit later in Do The Right Thing. Ernest Dickerson and Ang Lee – Lee’s classmates at the time – also worked on the film, as cinematographer and assistant director, respectively. The film went on to win Lee the Student Award of the Motion Picture Academy and set in train a remarkable career.

Directed by:

Spike Lee

Cast:

Monty Ross, Donna Bail, Stuart Smith

Country:

USA

Year:

1983

Running time:

60min