SOURCE: "Our Film Is Only a Starting Point: An Interview with Spike Lee," in Cineaste, Vol. 19, No. 4, 1993, pp. 20-4.

In the following interview, which took place in December, 1992, Lee discusses the making of the film Malcolm X, and explains his reasons for excluding certain material.

In addition to our Critical Symposium on Malcolm X, Cineaste felt it was important to talk to Spike Lee and incorporate his comments in our overall perspective on the film. In the following interview, Lee explains his primary desire to introduce Malcolm X to young viewers and his awareness that the time limits of even a nearly three and a half hour movie prevented him from producing anything more than a "primer" on one of America's most charismatic black leaders. His additional comments about the difficulties of attempting to produce an epic political film within the budgetary constraints imposed by Warner Bros. and...