In 1971, Melvin Van Peebles's independently produced film Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song became the top-grossing independent film of that year, helped usher in the blaxploitation genre, and served as the flag-bearer for independent filmmakers. Melvin's original diary of his struggles to conceptualize, finance, film, and distribute Sweetback will become an indispensable guide for aspiring filmmakers. Melvin is the authentic pioneer, and his achievement—and the determination he displayed—are eye-opening and inspiring. As son Mario Van Peebles (who made his debut in Sweetback) recalls in his Introduction, "[Melvin] was forced to self-finance, constantly on the brink of ruin, his crew got arrested and jailed, death threats, and yet [at first] he refused to submit his film to the all-white MPAA ratings board for approval. The film then received an X rating. My dad, true to form, printed t-shirts that read ‘Rated X ... by an all white jury' and made it part of his marketing campaign." Mario reflects on his father's example and contrasts Melvin's guerrilla filmmaking with the possibilities—technological, economic, and cultural—open to filmmakers, especially black filmmakers, today. Photographs are included in this incredible filmmaking manifesto.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
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This review is from: Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song: A Guerilla Filmmaking Manifesto (Paperback)
Melvin Van Peebles is a true innovator and produced the first successful independent film in America. He ushered in the genre of Blaxploitation films. He made a cool 10 million dollars and most of it way pure profit. He had no investors, because know one would contribute. Though the images may have been somewhat sterotypical, the black folks were starved to see images of themselves. The way he got the movie made, with unknown actors, was incredible. Of course once the movie was made, distribution was a problem. So what did he do? He took the movie to be shown where the folks were.
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The merchandise came in when promised in excellent condition. I would definitely do business with this seller again.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
The very popular movie produced and directed by Melvin Van Peebles called Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song contains many very important messages for the entire Black community. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
colored angels, feet cruise, mother fucker, film experience Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Van Peebles, Watermelon Man, Aint Supposed, Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, Don't Play Us Cheap, Big Sadie, Where's Sweetback, Good Dyke Fairy Godmother, Natural Death, New York, Big Henry, Los Angeles, Michael Mann, Ossie Davis, Bill Cosby, Uncle Abner, Bob Maxwell, United States New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
The very popular movie produced and directed by Melvin Van Peebles called Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song contains many very important messages for the entire Black community. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
colored angels, feet cruise, mother fucker, film experience Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Van Peebles, Watermelon Man, Aint Supposed, Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song, Don't Play Us Cheap, Big Sadie, Where's Sweetback, Good Dyke Fairy Godmother, Natural Death, New York, Big Henry, Los Angeles, Michael Mann, Ossie Davis, Bill Cosby, Uncle Abner, Bob Maxwell, United States New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 5
books:
54
books
cite this book:
See all 54 books citing this book
- Just an Old Sweet Song by Peebles Melvin Van in Back Matter
- Edward Albee: A Singular Journey by Mel Gussow on page 28
- Watermelon Man by Herman Raucher on page 17
- Heart Attack (Thorsons Health Series) by David Lewis in Back Matter
- New Jack City on page 31
- Redefining Black Film by Mark A. Reid on 10 pages
- Black American Cinema (AFI Film Readers) by Manthia Diawara on 5 pages
- The New York Times Film Reviews 1995-1996 by Times NY on page 62, page 98, and Index
- Gender, Ethnicity, and Sexuality in Contemporary American Film (America in the 20th Century Series) by Jude Davies on page 57, page 98, and Index
- Funk: Third Ear - The Essential Listening Companion (Third Ear: the Essential Listening Companion Series) by Dave Thompson on page 207, page 208, and page 209
See all 54 books citing this book
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