Spike Lee defends Chiraq

Spike Lee believes he chose the most appropriate name for his new feature Chiraq.

The Academy Award-nominated director is currently working on the musical dramedy, which centres around the violent streets of Chicago.

The 58-year-old filmmaker is receiving criticism over his decision for the title of the movie, which was inspired by war-torn Iraq. But Spike thinks the name is fitting.

“This is not a joke. This is not a game,” he noted at a news conference on Thursday, according to Page Six. “This is real life and death and that’s the way we’re going to approach this.”

The city’s current mayor Rahm Emmanuel revealed to the Chicago Tribune he “had an honest frank conversation” with Spike over his dislike of the name Chiraq.

The politician claimed the controversial moniker detracts from the “very good people that live in Englewood who are raising their family and there's a lot of positive things that are happening in Englewood mainly driven by the people that make up Englewood”, a neighbourhood in the metropolis.

But Spike recalls a time in preparation for the film when he attended a funeral for the brother of one of his producers. The Do the Right Thing director noted the man was “shot down in cold blood” on Chicago streets.

“No one wants to be a member of this club right here. We don’t want any more members. We want to shut it down,” Spike said of his aims for Chiraq.

The feature, which stars Samuel L. Jackson, John Cusack, Jeremy Piven, Common and Jennifer Hudson is slated to reach theatres in 2016.