The Rebel's Cinema - Frantz Fanon on Screen

The Spook Who Sat by the Door (Ivan Dixon, 1973, U.S., 102m)

One of the most radical, revolutionary statements in film history, Ivan Dixon’s explosive adaptation of the novel by Sam Greenlee follows the fictional first black CIA agent (Lawrence Cook) who uses his specialized training to build a guerrilla army intent on government overthrow. Dixon rousingly depicts “the American ghetto as a Fanonian war zone,” per Adam Shatz, with a call to revolution so potent that the film was pulled from theaters within days of opening. A treasured classic and 2012 National Film Registry selection, BAM is thrilled to present this long unavailable masterwork of American cinema in a new 4K restoration by the Library of Congress and The Film Foundation. Tickets on sale now.