Spike Leereflects on the documentary that helped the FBI reopen a cold case. While the director excels at helming fictional features, such asDo The Right ThingandInside Man,his most influential works always come down to non-fiction. His1992 biopicMalcolm X,which features Denzel Washington as the titular civil rights activist and leader, is considered a cultural touchstone, particularly in Black cinema.
His film adaptation of Ron Stallworth’s autobiographical book,Black Klansman: A Memoir,resulted inthe Oscar-winningBlacKkKlansman. Lee’s next film will beHighest to Lowest, which is a reinterpretation of Akira Kurosawa’sHigh and Lowand will mark the fifth collaboration between him and Washington. However, recently, he revealed that he is most proud of the1997 documentary that helped the FBI solve a case.
Spike Lee Considers 4 Little Girls His Best Work
4 Little GirlsBrought Justice To The Victims
4 Little Girlsis a historical documentary that investigates the bombing that took place on August 20, 2025, at a Baptist church in Birmingham, Alabama. The racially motivated attack was orchestrated by four members of a Ku Klux Klan-affiliated group and took the lives offour Black girls between the ages of 11 and 14, who were attending Sunday school at the church at the time. Through interviews and archive footage, Lee exploredthe hardships the victims' families facedbefore and after the incident.
Talking about one of his most acclaimed documentary films at the Red Sea Film Festival (viaThe Hollywood Reporter), Lee shared that his 1997 documentary helped bring justice to the four little girls who were killed in the bombing. The director recalled that hereceived a call from the FBI “a week before"the film’s premiere, who asked him for “a print of the film” and told him thatthey had “reopened the case and charged” the individuals with murder. Check out what he said below:
Many years later, a week before the film was supposed to open at the Film Forum, I get a call from the FBI, saying they want a print of the film. I gave it to them. The FBI reopened the case and charged those criminals with murder. That’s the best work I have ever done, and it was hard.
Our Take On 4 Little Girls
It Made A Difference
4 Little Girlsis critically acclaimed, investigating an event with the cultural and political themes that Lee tackles in his fictional features and biopics. The documentary is hardly on the list ofLee’s best work, given that the director has brought many important and meaningful stories to the public eye. However, no awards or praises would top the real-world impact of4 Little Girls, which brought justice to the girls, who the filmmaker wanted to honor through the documentary.
Spike Lee: All Of His Documentaries, Ranked (According To IMDb)
Spike Lee is a legendary film maker for a reason, and his documentaries are just as incredible as his other movies, as these prove.
Making a difference through storytelling is whatLee’s work is about, and naming the 1997 documentary his “best work” speaks about his character. In the same interview, the director admitted that working on the documentary “was hard.” He would tell stories the same way he does with fictional features, but there were challenges in making a film compiled with original interviews and old footage. Regardless, that hard work paid off in bringing justice to a once unresolved and tragic case.
4 Little Girls
Cast
4 Little Girls is a documentary directed by Spike Lee that revisits the 1963 bombing of a church in Birmingham, Alabama, which resulted in the death of four young girls. The film explores the impact of the incident on the civil rights movement and includes interviews with key figures, including former Governor George Wallace.
