From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Background 3 Cast 4 Reception 4.1 Awards & nominations 5 Current Availability 6 Notes 7 Reference 8 External links

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.

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.

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 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.

Tracy Camilla Johns — Nola Darling Tommy Redmond Hicks — Jamie Overstreet John Canada Terrell — Greer Childs Spike Lee — Mars Blackmon Raye Dowell — Opal Gilstrap Joie Lee — Clorinda Bradford S. Epatha Merkerson — Doctor Jamison Bill Lee — Sonny Darling

Erik Dellums — Dog 3 Reginald Hudlin — Dog 4 Ernest R. Dickerson — Dog 8 Fab Five Freddy — Dog 10

1986 Cannes Film Festival

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

1986 Los Angeles Film Critics Awards

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

1987 Independent Spirit Awards

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

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.

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's likely this will simply be reissued by The Criterion Collection. According to Spike Lee's agent, the film will eventuallly be released on DVD via The Criterion Collection. No specific street date has been set, but it is rumored it will be released early 2007. But, ater 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]

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

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

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