Ava DuVernay Asked Spike Lee to Hold His ‘BlacKkKlansman’ Grand Prix on the Flight Back From Cannes

Spike Lee received one of the biggest awards of his career yesterday at Cannes, where he won the festival’s prestigious Grand Prix (essentially second prize) for “BlacKkKlansman.” Jury president Cate Blanchett said the film is “quintessentially about an American crisis,” with fellow juror Ava DuVernay praising it as “startling and stunning” and saying she’s seen every one of Lee’s films. Which is to say, she appears to have been pleasantly surprised when she found herself on the same flight back from the festival — and asked him to hold his new prize.

“Let me tell you a small Sunday story,” the “Selma” and “A Wrinkle in Time” director tweeted. “We happened to be on the same flight back to NYC. And I happened to ask to see his history-making Cannes Grand Prix Prize. And he happened to say yes. And then me and about 27 other passengers stood there and swooned and smiled. The End.”

John David Washington, Adam Driver, Topher Grace, and Alec Baldwin star in the film, which Lee co-wrote in addition to directing. Focus Features will release “BlacKkKlansman” in theaters on August 10.