The Emory Cinematheque Presents: SHE’S GOTTA HAVE IT (2017)

The film SHE’S GOTTA HAVE IT introduces the world to filmmaker Spike Lee. Shot on a budget of $175,000 in 12 days, the film has grossed over $8 million. It opened in New York City on August 8, 1986 with Island Pictures, 40 years ago. Shot in black and white, primarily to keep cost down, it is set in late 1980s Brooklyn and positioned to tell a story of Nola Darling (Tracy Camilla Johns) as an independent and forward-thinking young, Black woman and her concurrent sexual relationships with three different men.

Critics called it “an instant hit” (BLACK ENTERPRISE), a “surprise smash” (PEOPLE), and Lee, “the black Woody Allen.” Some film scholars, especially Black feminist ones, have been less laudatory. Cultural critic bell hooks remarked: “The narrators are male, and the story is a male-centered, male-biased patriarchal tale. As such, it is not progressive, nor does it break away from the traditional portrayal of female sexuality in film.”

30 years after its release, Lee reimagines this film as a Netflix series, premiering in the fall of 2017. Reconceptualizing Nola, (now played by DeWanda Wise), he gets to draw a fuller picture of what Nola Darling might be beyond her men. In addition to Wise, the series stars Anthony Ramos, Lyriq Bent, Cleo Anthony, and Ilfenesh Hadera. With this new iteration of the film, we get to see how Lee imagines independent Black women in the 21st century. the 21st century. We will screen three episodes of the first season of the reboot.
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The Emory Cinematheque is a theatrical venue offered by Emory University’s Department of Film and Media. Each semester on Wednesday nights at 7:30pm in White Hall 208, the Cinematheque hosts professional screenings introduced by Emory professors and special guests. All Cinematheque events are free and open to the public. The Cinematheque presents this screening event as part of our series running 40 YEARS OF BROTHER SPIKE LEE, a retrospective of the trailblazing director curated by Emory Professor of Film and Media, Beretta E. Smith-Shomade. The series runs from 9/2/2026-12/9/2026