NEWSLETTER
Rochester, N.Y,. September 15, 2023—The Dryden Theatre at the George Eastman Museum will screen School Daze (Spike Lee, US 1988) on Sunday, September 17 at 2:30 p.m. The critically acclaimed film, directed by Spike Lee and starring Laurence Fishburne, Tisha Campbell, and Giancarlo Esposito, is celebrating its 35th anniversary in 2023. This event is in partnership with the Greater Rochester Alumnae/Alumni Chapter of the National Pan-Hellenic Council (GRAAC NPHPC) and a part of the organization’s Greek Week festivities.
Tickets for the screening of School Daze can be purchased online via Eventbrite. Admission for the screening is $15 for general audiences.
School Daze was Lee’s second feature film, released on February 12, 1888. The film spoke honestly on the themes of political activism, structural and intra-race racism, female empowerment, and Greek life within the Black community, bringing millions of viewers to a new setting —Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). School Daze features a host of established as well as up-and-coming Black actors including Fishburne, Campbell, Esposito, Ozzie Davis, William Goldwyn (Bill) Nunn, and Samuel L. Jackson, who would each make their mark in the ensuing decades. The film earned critical acclaim from film pundits including Roger Ebert, and—while a moderate box office success—put Black issues and HBCU life into the American pop cultural lexicon, while serving as a building block to Lee’s successive hits such as Do The Right Thing (1989), Malcolm X (1992), Crooklyn (1995), and He Got Game (1998).
After the screening there will be an adult reception in the George Eastman Museum, and a chance to view the Gillian Laub: Southern Rites exhibition. Southern Rites is a powerful photographic exploration of racial tensions and discrimination in the American South. Gillian Laub spent over two decades documenting the lives and experiences of individuals in Montgomery County, Georgia, a community marked by deep-seated racial divisions. The exhibition is on view through Sunday, December 31, 2023.
For more information about the Dryden Theatre, visit eastman.org/Dryden-theatre. For more information about the GRAAC-NPHC's Greek Week schedule, visit the organization's Facebook page.
About [AB1] the George Eastman Museum
Founded in 1947, the George Eastman Museum is the world’s oldest photography museum and one of the largest film archives in the United States, located on the historic Rochester estate of entrepreneur and philanthropist George Eastman, the pioneer of popular photography. Its holdings comprise more than 400,000 photographs, 28,000 motion picture films, the world’s preeminent collection of photographic and cinematographic technology, one of the leading libraries of books related to photography and cinema, and extensive holdings of documents and other objects related to George Eastman. As a research and teaching institution, the Eastman Museum has an active publishing program and, its L. Jeffrey Selznick School of Film Preservation’s graduate program (a collaboration with the University of Rochester) makes critical contributions to film preservation. For more information[AB2] , visit eastman.org and follow the George Eastman Museum accounts on Facebook and LinkedIn, as well as the @eastmanmuseum accounts on Instagram, TikTok, and Threads.
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Media Contact: Nathaniel Smith
(585) 327-4800