• Spike Lee's Passing Strange: The Movie

Passing Strange: The Movie

Free on Our Outdoor Screen!

featuring

Stew, Daniel Breaker, Eisa Davis, Colman Domingo,

Bring a blanket or lawn chair, and come early for live music at 7:30 from John Binkov, guitarist for VKTMS (and a UC Berkeley alum).

Plan on dinner outdoors—our very own Babette cafe will be cooking up coconut-peanut chicken wings with Sriracha and spicy slaw, vegetarian corn chowder, and other delights, and El's Pizza returns with her delicious pizza pop-up! 

The spectacular, one-of-a-kind musical Passing Strange was developed and premiered at Berkeley Repertory Theatre and went on to be a Broadway hit, winning multiple awards including a Tony. Spike Lee captured the show on film, retaining its energy while also taking us behind the scenes. The semi-autobiographical story of a young black man's coming of age was conceived and composed by rock musician Stew, who narrates and directs the show. Hilton Als wrote of the musical, "Passing Strange is a brilliant work about migration—a geographical migration but also its hero’s migration beyond the tenets of 'blackness' and toward selfhood." For Roger Ebert, “This is not a traditional feature, but it's one of Spike Lee's best films."

 

FILM DETAILS 
Screenwriter
  • Stew
Based On
  • The musical by Stew

Cinematographer
  • Matthew Libatique
Print Info
  • Color
  • Digital video
  • 135 mins