Baadasssss!

Melvin Van Peebles is one of the true pioneers of independent black cinema. After directing the 1970 hit comedy Watermelon Man, he signed a three-movie deal with Columbia with a firm vision that his next film would have to make a difference. He wanted to make the first true movie about black Americans, by black Americans - for black Americans. Columbia, however, was less than thrilled with that idea and the only place this film could be made in was outside the studios with a nearly non-existing budget.
Going through an insanely difficult and amazingly bizarre production phase, Van Peebles never lost hope, and somehow managed to
finish what others deemed impossible. When finally released, Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song became the top grossing independent film of 1971, today hailed as the first real black power movie.
Baadasssss is his oldest son's, actor and director Mario Van Peebles, homage to his father. Playing the part of Melvin himself, Mario Van Peebles has made a warm, affectionate and honest portrait of a man, whose passion for his arts sometimes overshadowed everything else. This is a less glamorous look at the Easy Riders, Raging Bulls-era, but no less important.

MARTIN WEGELAND