Spike Lee’s film on MU protests will debut in Columbia on Wednesday

Spike Lee’s documentary film on the racially charged protests at the University of Missouri that spurred the MU football players’ boycott is making its debut in Columbia on Wednesday.

The film, “2 Fists Up,” featuring the Concerned Student 1950 protest group, will premiere at the Missouri Theatre in downtown Columbia at 8 p.m. It’s free. Doors open at 7 p.m.

The Academy Award-winning director and his crew were on the MU campus last month filming parts of the documentary while members of Concerned Student 1950 held a protest through Jesse Hall.

Lee was in Columbia last month for a film festival that included student-made documentaries. According to a report in the Columbia Tribune, Lee met with student filmmakers to use some of their footage in his documentary.

Lee partnered with ESPN Films to make his documentary. A shortened version of the hourlong documentary is set to show on ESPN late next month.

In November, Concerned Student 1950, a predominantly black student group, set up a tent city on a Columbia campus quadrangle to protest racism at the university. The protest led to a student hunger strike, the football team threatening not to play, and the resignation of the university chancellor and the UM System president.

This story was originally published April 5, 2016 at 6:13 PM with the headline "Spike Lee’s film on MU protests will debut in Columbia on Wednesday."