Spike Lee to be honored at Silverdocs film fest

Director, writer, actor and producer Spike Lee poses as he arrives at the 6th annual Behind The Lens Award ceremony honoring Lee in Beverly Hills, California March 26, 2008.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Spike Lee, the Oscar-nominated director of "Do the Right Thing," will be honored at this year's Silverdocs film festival for his documentary work including "When the Levees Broke," on the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, organizers said on Wednesday.

Lee will screen excepts from his documentary works and discuss his career on June 19 at the Charles Guggenheim Symposium, which recognizes top documentary filmmakers and is a centerpiece of the June 16-23 festival.

The festival in the Washington suburb of Silver Spring is organized by the American Film Institute and Discovery Communications, and has become a major showcase for documentary movies.

The Silverdocs announcement said Lee was selected for his telling of stories "that challenge America's consciousness of social injustice."

"His deep commitment to telling stories of the African American experience has resulted in numerous nonfiction films," it said.

Among them are the Peabody-winning "When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts," the Oscar-nominated "4 Little Girls," about the Birmingham, Alabama church bombings in 1963, and "We Wuz Robbed," about the 2000 presidential election recount in Florida.

(Reporting by Randall Mikkelsen; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)