Carlos Holmes, the TV host of DSU's Inside Perspective, had the wonderful opportunity of interviewing award-winning American filmmaker, Lee Daniels. Carlos talked with Daniels about producing/directing Monster's Ball (which was a critical and box office success, winning the Oscar in the category of Best Actress; the film was also nominated for Best Original Screenplay), Precious (which received six Academy Award nominations, including Best Director; the film won two of the awards), and The Butler, a historical fiction drama featuring an ensemble cast portraying unique events on the 20th century presidents of the United States at the White House.
As a side note, the film "The Butler" won at the Sundance Film Festival and has garnered every imaginable accolade under the sun. The film starred newcomer Gabourey Sidibe in the title role as a Harlem teen who is the victim of unimaginable abuse from her father, mother and society. The film allowed Daniels to re-team with both Mariah Carey and Mo'Nique, who had been a revelation to both critics and audiences as Precious's abusive mother. Daniels has said that he felt compelled to bring this story of child abuse to the screen to help heal the scars from his own relationship with his abusive father. (Daniels is also a co-creator, executive producer and director of the television series Empire that debuted in 2015.) The above 10-minute interview was produced at Delaware State University a few years ago. Since this video has not been widely viewed, I asked Carlos if I could post the interview to this site, as I so admire Daniels extraordinary body of work.