Learn More About This Event Below

This is a work-in-progress screening presented by the Black Documentary Collective.  For tickets, call the Box Office at 212.281.9240 ext 19 or 20.

 

About this Screening

André Robert Lee and his sister grew up in the ghettos of Philadelphia. Their mother struggled to support them by putting strings in the waistbands of track pants and swimsuits in a local factory. When Andre was 14 years old, he received what his family believed to be a golden ticket – a full scholarship to attend one of the most prestigious prep schools in the country.  Elite education was Andre’s way up and out, but at what price?  Yes, the exorbitant tuition was covered, but this new world cost him and his family much more than anyone could have anticipated.

In The Prep School Negro, André takes a journey back in time to revisit the events of his adolescence while also spending time with current day prep school students of color and their classmates to see how much has really changed inside the ivory tower. What he discovers along the way is the poignant and unapologetic truth about who really pays the consequences for yesterday’s accelerated desegregation and today’s racial naiveté.

 

About the Filmmaker

André Robert Lee has taken a unique path from teaching in the NYC public School system, to Graduate school and then the Ford Foundation before finding his way to the entertainment business. André had his first taste of feature film while working on the set of The Best Man. After The Best Man, André took every freelance job possible in the entertainment world until landing at Miramax Films in the Academy-driven Marketing Department. André then held the post of Director of Marketing for Urbanworld. Following Urbanworld, André joined Film Movement where he produced two short films: Friday Night Fever, which was created in a partnership with Donna Karan, and The Ecology of Love (Sundance 2004), starring Pharrell Williams, which was produced in partnership with Visa. André’s work as a freelance producer has included a music video for The Churchills and numerous segments for German television.

In the Summer of 2005 André worked with Effie T. Brown (Real Women Have Curves; Producer) and Jeffrey Blitz (Academy Award Nominee Spellbound; Director) on their feature Rocket Science. André was in charge of all clearances and product placement for this film. André then produced Rupaul’s latest feature film project entitled Starrbooty Reloaded. In the Spring of 2006 André produced Dirty Laundry, which stars Rockmond Dunbar, Loretta Divine, Terry Vaughn, Jenifer Lewis and Sommore.

André currently serves on the Connecticut College Alumni Board of Directors, is on the Advisory Board of the Topsoil Film Festival (Rotterdam), is a Jury/Selection Committee Member of the Rap-It-Up/Black Aids Short Subject Film Competition as well as serves on the Executive Committee of Film In the City. André lives and works in New York City.

 

http://www.theprepschoolnegro.org/